At the end of your life, what will actually matter the most?
I really don’t think it will be how productive you were, or all the things you checked off your to-do list. Your life will be less about what you do, and more about who you are.
God created you and breathed His Spirit into you, He made you in His image and that’s what made you a human being. You are a human being, not a human doing.
Yes, I know that sounds cheesy, but let’s think about what that means:
John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
What does the word abide mean? It means to remain, continue, stay, or live. Just Be.
God says to abide in Him. To live in His presence. Just be a child of God. It’s less about doing and more about being.
Now, what does the branch have to do in order to produce fruit? Nothing. It just has to be connected to the vine. It doesn’t have to do anything awesome. It doesn’t have to perform or accomplish anything. Yes, fruit is important, but it comes as a byproduct of being connected to the vine.
That’s the way it is with us. In order to accomplish what God has created us to do, we just have to be connected to Him. We just have to be his child. It’s not about doing. If you fail, God doesn’t suddenly start to love you less.
Romans 8:38-39 (The Message)
“I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love.”
And because of that, you don’t need to measure yourself by how much money you make, you just need to know how high God’s love is for you. You don’t need to measure yourself by how wide your hips are, you just need to begin to grasp how wide God’s love is for His child.
Neither height nor depth or anything else can separate you from the love of God. You don’t have to earn it. It’s a state of being, not doing. You aren’t loved by God because you did something to earn that love or to deserve that love. God loves you because you are His child.
Maybe you needed to hear this today. So go and live your life, stay connected to Jesus, and delight in the fact that God loves you because you are His child, not because of what you can accomplish.
Comments