Thursday, April 23, 2009

Living The Great Life

I have been going through Beth Moore's new Bible study "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman".  This week the focus has been on chapter seven of Esther, when Esther reveals to Xerxes Haman's plans for killing the Jewish race (including herself).  As a result, the king is angered and has Haman hung on the very gallows that he had built for Esther's Jewish uncle Mordecai.  

So, why am I telling you this?  Today's lesson was very encouraging, and I wanted to share some of Beth's thoughts.  The lesson title was "A Hung-up Life".  We all desire for our lives to mean something.  So often it is easy to get "hung-up" on what we do.  It may be today's immediate to-do list or future goals in our lives.  We sometimes just sit and "wait" for ministry opportunities to come along, but I want to challenge you about your daily "doings".  Can this be your ministry?  Does God have certain things in your life today?  A certain route you walk or run when you pass the same people?  Does God place the same people with you at your work place?  Can making a meal be a ministry?  What about cleaning a toilet?  

Those are all my thoughts...here are some of Beth Moore's thoughts:

"The thought occurs to me afresh that great lives don't always seem great while we're living them.  They may seem embarrassingly regular."

"The thought that you might produce something mediocre can be devastating."  (This is a quote from a self-proclaimed perfectionist.  Does mediocrity scare you?  It does me!)

"Everyone of us who embraces the glory of God as our purpose will end up doing great things precisely because we do God-things.  His holy hand resting on the least act renders the ordinary extraordinary.  Spooning soup into the mouth of the weak or manning the nursery so a tired mom can go to church are acts of high worship when offered in the name of Christ.  He beholds the sight like a breathtaking work of art, tilting His head to study each subtle detail.  "She has done a beautiful thing to me" (Mark 14:6). [Italics mine]

"To live for the greatness of God is to live the great life."

Oh, to hear, "Well done."

1 comment:

Rebecca Conduff Aguirre said...

I can't wait to do Esther! Great post...I was thinking along these lines yesterday while I was at Micah's baseball practice because twice (sometimes thrice) a week there is a group of parents (mostly Moms, some Dads) just sitting around for 2+ hours at a time, wide open to ministry! :)