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If I Must


I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

          Yesterday’s post may have made it sound as though we can go through life without a care, singing “lah dee dah” and God will take care of everything. Scripture and experience who that’s not the case. If you think about it, the level of letting go required for yesterday’s post is hard work. A day in which I accomplish all I need to, should, and want to is a good day. A day in which I am not in control feels like a failure.
          This means that the goal toward which I need to press onward is letting go or dying to self. That’s not the only goal I should have, but it’s a good example. The second issue is, of course, attitude. So often, we view these goals for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus as negative things. Read the following quote in the saddest, most bored, put-upon voice you can, “If I must…” How often is this our response to things we think we have to do to please God?  How often is this our response to things we think we should do to love ourselves by growing healthier, stronger, etc.?
          Consider for a moment how you feel about going after an exciting goal. You and a friend have set up a friendly competition. The person who walks the fewest steps in the next month makes dinner for the other. Or, you’ve decided you want to make a cross-stitch gift for someone… whatever your exciting goal might be. Do you say, “If I must”? When I get started on a plastic canvas project, there’s no “if” about it. It’s simply, “I must.” Ask some of my friends. I carry a camera when I take my dog for a walk, but I also take my plastic canvas with me (even after dark!) and stitch away. Sometimes, I even work on it with a bag of garbage in one hand. Yes, I’m a bit nuts, but the point is “I must.”
          That’s the attitude we should have about the goal of the prize of the upward call. It goes with us everywhere we go, and every time we get a chance, we add a couple “stitches.” We have a goal. If we don’t get to work on it today the way we planned, then we’re working on the other goal – letting go. Both are valuable.

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