Set Your Stuff on Fire!

“The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.” (Judges 1:8)

Have you ever had to set fire to the very thing God gave you in order to possess it?

Until They Make It

I’m stuck on this idea of ‘story’. I purchased an audiobook of Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years to listen to on my drive from Texas to Georgia. I’ve only managed to listen to part of the first of four discs. It’s about writing a great life story (at least that’s what the back of the cover says).

Today, I’ve been watching episodes of ‘Behind the Music’ on VH1. Stories. My friend once said, very keenly, “The details of their lives are all insignificant until they make it big. Then we assign all this meaning to everything that happened in their lives.”

And I’m just kind of wondering what my story is. What my story will be. Whether all of these insignificant details will matter some day.

I Hope One Day I Believe Them

Many, many people have told me that I will do great things in life. I hope one day I believe them. More than that, I hope they are right.

Pedigree, Destiny, and Humble Service

Here it is…

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:3-5)

Jesus gets down and dirty, washing their dusty feet. A great act of service and humility. He was setting an example.  What keeps us from following that example?  Here’s a better question: What permits Jesus to perform such a menial, humbling task? (Besides the fact that he’s Jesus, for cryin out loud!)  It’s right there in verse 3.  He knew his pedigree. He had come from God. And he knew his destiny. He was returning to God. He has nothing to lose by humbling himself because he has full certainty and confidence in who he is, where he has come from, and where he is going.

Humble service can be a threat to our egos. It can be a threat to our reputations.  It can be a threat to our identities.  ”If I do that task, I will look like a doormat/loser/servant/fool…”  Until we rest assured in our pedigree and destiny, we will not be free to humbly serve others in ways that would otherwise threaten our identities.