...that I may know Him...

The Internet home page on my laptop is set to Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest daily devotional reading. Admittedly, I rarely read it...but my logic is thus: I'd rather the home page be set to something pointed toward Christ than anything else. And it increases the chance that I'll read it at least some of the time.

I actually took a few minutes to read the devotion this morning...and in true God-like fashion, He used the words written so long ago assigned to a seemingly random day to speak to me exactly where I am.

As one prepares to completely uproot her life and face a reality of a completely blank slate...as exciting as it is, it can be a somewhat daunting idea. It offers the opportunity to re-define yourself in your "new life", unencumbered by the assumptions and expectations of the world you have been living in...but it also strips you of all comfort factors (family, friends, 'stomping grounds', etc.). It really puts you into an introspective "who am I" and "who do I want to be?" mode...which I believe can be a very good thing. However, if these are the only questions one asks, I see bad things afoot, for to forsake the greater pursuit of knowing Christ would be a tragedy.

Sincerely, I have always believed that the opportunity to live abroad again is a great chance to readjust my worldview and open up my eyes to things God may want to do with my life that I just can't see here, but I think there's more. Yesterday, as I listening to our pastor speak about the short-term missions project in which hundreds from our church will be participating, I began to see my assignment in London as my own personal mission trip. Sure, Mustang is paying for me to go, and I'm sure they're going to expect to see me around the office regularly, but what is there to prevent me from viewing (and acting) as though I'm on a foreign missions assignment? Nothing at all. In fact, I think that's the biggest part of the purpose of this trip that I've missed up to this point.

So, hopefully tying this all together, many (including myself) would quickly jump to self-discovery as a huge benefit of such a time as this. But I think I'm seeing that things might probably fall out as such:

1. Know Christ (Phillippians 3:10) - this must be first or #2 can not happen, effectively


2. Go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19)
   


3. These will result in a greater self-realization, not for that knowledge in and of itself, but to further the effectiveness of #1 and #2 above.
   

In this order, the focus remains on Christ, and not on me.


From Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest
(Edited. Emphasis mine.)

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July 11 - The Spiritually Vigorous Saint

...that I may know Him... —Philippians 3:10

A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ...He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing— even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet— we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. "Jesus, knowing . . . that He had come from God and was going to God, . . . took a towel . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet . . ." ( John 13:3-5 ).

The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is "that I may know Him . . ." Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.
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These thoughts are quite newly thrown together in my mind, so please pardon their jumbled nature.