What does God want from me?

 

As we stumble through this maze we call life, we often will become “dazed and confused” concerning just what God wants.  We feel as if we are the only person on earth living a life of doom and despair.  We feel that everything we do results in punishment or failure.  We make every attempt to live a life that would be considered “ok” in a very judgmental world.  We simply do what others do in order to receive approval from the world because, after all, that’s where we take up residence.  I have a few other opinions, other versions of being considered “ok” for you today. 

In the Old Testament, God gives His people some valuable advice on just what He expects from them. 

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8(NKJV)  The prophet Micah delivered this message to God’s people, informing them of just what God wanted in order to live a life pleasing to His sight.  These attributes would be great to have, even in today’s world.  But the only problem is that they are not required by today’s society, so we simply sidestep the issue.  More Godly wisdom appears in the Book of Jeremiah.  “ For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.” Jeremiah 7:5-7(NKJV) 

These two passages are just a sample of what God wants from us.  When we worship our God, we are “walking humbly.”  When we “love our neighbor” we are definitely not “oppressing” them.  It’s a fairly straightforward answer.  We do these things and God will bless us.  Jesus was sent here to walk this earth to actually review and remind us of these things, and we still seem to be confused as to “what God wants from us.”  The Old and New Testaments are full of examples of what can happen when we simply figure out God’s game plan and we take the steps to follow it.  It is one thing, to be aware of the instructions, but the real proof is in the follow through.  We can have all the knowledge of the Bible our tiny little brains could hold, but if we are living something different, then we should not be surprised at how hard life can be. 

 When we lose sight of God’s instructions, His commands on how our lives are to be lived, we become blinded by the world’s demands, and fall prey to simply bowing to what the world wants from us.  And we wonder why life is so hard sometimes. 

“in the world, not of the world”