When I turned thirty, I remember thinking, this is the age of Christ, when he began His ministry. But, I didn't feel like I was doing anything special for the Kingdom of God.
Only cooking, cleaning, changing stinky diapers, wiping runny noses, getting little sleep, barely getting out of the house. You know, nothing special.
Life went on. Birthdays 31, 32, and 33. I was the age of Christ when He gave His life as a payment for our sins, was resurrected and left this earth. Still, I was nothing special. Still...me. Still, a nobody.
Time to throw a pity party, right? Unless...
Maybe I got it all wrong.
Nothing special. Useless. A nobody. Doesn't sound like my Father's voice.
The flesh, the world, the devil himself, all send messages about who we are, why we're here, and what makes us valued.
The flesh, that old sinful selfish part of me says in order to be something special, I need to do something great and have lots and lots of friends to be loved or valued.
The world chimes in that I need to achieve a certain status, to attain a certain unattainable lifestyle, to be known on a broad range to be loved or valued.
The devil will do anything to keep me from knowing my true identity. He will try to get me down by convincing me that I'm a useless nobody or puff me up with vanity that I might be consumed with my own perceived greatness. Whatever works.
Whatever keeps me from realizing my true identity and true calling.
Because if I knew, if all of us knew and woke up from our complacency, like Christ, we would flip over the tables of those who profit by our drowsy coasting through life. Our world would be turned upside down.
We must wake up from our slumber. From the false lullaby of the flesh, the world, and the devil, lulling us to sleep, making us miss opportunities to love a broken world.
Cause that's why we're here. To love. Christ commands it. Love God first and our neighbor next. In small ways, ways that nobody else will even notice. But, that doesn't make us nobodies.
We are loved and valued by God because through Christ, our whole life, has been, is being, and will be redeemed.
Apart from the truth, it doesn't matter what we have come to believe about ourselves, or what others have told us is important.
Nothing else matters but what Christ did on the cross and what that means for us and the world.
Christ is the center, the core, the missing page that has been torn out of our history books.
Everything hinges on Him, whether we acknowledge Him or not.
But, when we do, we change.
Our world changes. Turns upside down.
Or, maybe it was upside down to begin with.
In Christ, we are made right. Turned upright. Back to God. Back to the place and the Person where we are most valued and loved.
In light of His love and grace, we can reach out to our significant other, our children, our friends, acquaintances, even enemies. With love. Agape' love. The giving kind of love that pours itself out to the utmost. Because that is what Jesus did for us.
And that is what will change our world.
