image by Radha Rao
Written in 1971 just a month after I returned to Jesus as Savior and Lord, the piece “Clouds” formed the heart of this post. Fairly compliant, I used to go with the flow. Any ambition came from trying to show I had worth. Then Jesus overwhelmed me as I grasped his value of me. No greater than anyone else, but enough that Jesus would give his life for me. Something, someone, worth giving purpose beyond pleasure to my life. Transformation: Step One.
I used to wish to be a cloud
floating above everyone and everything
pushed by the wind
lazily viewing the world below
kneaded by the wind
into a million different forms
everchanging
But I’ve changed
I want to confront life
fight it
celebrate the tension
to go where I desire
not to where I’m pushed
I want consistency
not changing with each breeze
not reacting to others
but letting them react to me
A mandate
life exists to seize it
and when I’m being pushed
into something I am not
then I cannot enjoy life
then I do not really live it
I’ve grown a lot since those days, and have found the best joy comes when I serve the mandate Jesus gave us: to get to heaven, and do our best to help others get there. Yes, that requires effort. Intentionality. Strategy. Purpose.
The question I have for myself and all readers of this Unconventional: what do we strive for? Personal pleasure and ease? Financial comfort and success? A soft life? To let go of the past and press on to meet God and please him? Listen to what Paul the apostle exemplified:
“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Kick Starting the Application
In your walk with Jesus, can you honestly say you strain forward to the goal of heaven? Where does serving God fit into your panoply of priorities? Do you serve him to benefit yourself, or his purposes? How can you press on more strongly for heaven, for you and others?