Living Intentionally for God

How’s it been for you this week? Where have you seen God more clearly, followed him more nearly and loved him more dearly? It’s good to regularly assess where we are on our faith journey. If we are not intentional about our seeing, following, and loving God each and everyday we can lose sight of whose we are, who we belong to, why we are here on this planet at this time. Nothing reminds us of the brief time we have to be alive on this earth like the death of a loved one. My uncle passed away several weeks ago after a long illness. So it is with thanksgiving and a deep sadness that we say goodbye.

My uncle Travis was a Methodist Minister and spent most of his life serving the poor, oppressed, and forgotten. He was my father’s older brother. My father died in 2004 and his younger brother, Mike, passed away four years ago. The three Barnes brothers are gone now. It makes me sad, of course, but also grateful. Grateful to have had the privilege of knowing them, loving them, and being loved by them.

My father and his brothers were faithful Christian men, always serving the church and serving their communities, each one so different from the other but all three brothers similar in one important aspect, their faith. God was their center and guiding light. They often spoke about their faith while fishing together on the lake, giving God praise for the life they had growing up together. My dad and his brothers were raised in a Christian home. My grandparents trusted God and passed on their faith to their sons. Our family is left with the legacy of their faith as we travel on.

As the holidays are approaching may we never forget that spending time with our loved ones is a sacred gift. Rather than spending our energy and money on things that do not last, let us be intentional about living our lives for God. A cherished memory and a continued tradition in our family at holiday gatherings is our intentional time to give God thanks. At every holiday meal my family and our friends stand together to say the blessing, the youngest of the bunch begins by reading scripture. While everyone holds hands, we take turns thanking God for our particular blessings over the past year. It is a profound time of gratitude and gives us a perspective of God’s faithfulness, year after year.

When we look back over our lives, it is not the things we acquire that matters. In the end it is the life that we share in Christ; the love that we are privileged to give and receive. So why would we not be intentional about seeking to live each day seeing God more clearly, loving him more dearly and following him more nearly?

That is a question for each one of us to answer and our response will make a difference in the legacy that we leave behind. Living intentionally for God is an eternal blessing and a legacy worthy of the effort.

- Lynn +