“Man up!”
Jason’s response to my whining was direct. We were talking about diet and exercise and all the excuses I put up when he levelled me with what I needed. Jason has lost more than I weigh. He’s walked the road and taken off the weight. Who am I to give him all the reasons I can’t do it?
Sheesh … I’m being a wus.
I’m a faith whimp too. I kinda walk the faith road. I mean, I’m a pastor aren’t I? I’m “giving it all up for Jesus” by being a pastor, aren’t I? No, I’m afraid not
I sense God calling me to live the gospel but I keep throwing out excuses. I’ve got money excuses, family excuses, health excuses and church excuses. I’m comfortable doing what I’m doing and it’s even good stuff. I mean, I spend my time talking to church kids challenging them to step out and trust God. Some of them even do it. But what about me? Do I do it?
Just today I got two emails from former students telling me how the Lord used me in their lives. One was from 1987 and one from 2002. Weird timing with what I’m wrestling with right now, that’s for sure!
What is God telling me? He might be saying, “Great job! You produced fruit and now these people are looking for someone with gifts like yours. Go feed them.”
Or is he saying, “Look at what you’re doing. It’s fruit that lasts. Keep at it.”
I don’t know. But I do know Jason is right. It’s time for me to “man up” and put the excuses away. I need to be about the gospel whether here in Portland, Maine or Podunk, Nebraska. It’s time to man up and follow Him with everything.
Live the gospel. Live the Good News of rescue, hope and salvation.
Whatever you want, Jesus, I’m open. My stuff, my money, my future, my family, my plans, my life are all yours. Use them however you want.
What about you? Let’s man-up and follow Him with reckless abandon.
Drinking from the Same Dipper 
I think, the older I get the more I understand Paul’s frustration when he wrote, “What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.” Romans 7:15
And then, Romans 8:1-6
“With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. “
It’s amazing that what you’re thinking about…going through is the same things I’m wondering in my own life. I go through many ups and downs, as you know. And when I’m down, I’m SUPER whiny. I’m a drama queen. I hate it. But as you said, I need to “man-up.” I have to focus, reassess my life, prioritize and all those things I need to do, but fail to do cuz I’m so lazy. I do my devotions, pray occasionally, but I don’t delve into God’s word like I should. I’m actually planning a weekend alone, just me & God. I’m preparing some dovotions and bible studies and some good old fashioned prayer time. This is very important to me. Thank you for your inspiration. You’ve always done that. You do great work and God has blessed you, used you and blessed you even more.
I’m STILL diggin’ your style…
David
so would it be “woman-up” for us ladies? thanks Scott, loved the blog. Gina M
I think “woman-up” might work too … as long as it’s a tough woman. I’m glad you enjoy my blog.
This Jason sounds like a very smart guy.