What on earth am I doing?

A friend of mine, we'll call him Hance (ha!), just loaned me a sermon by Dr. David Platt from the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention in Kentucky. This sermon convicted me in so many areas!

First, he was describing what Hebrews 13:11-13 says about going "outside of the gate", and how back then that's where the rejects went. If you were a leper, you lived outside of the gate. He also pointed out that Jesus spent most of His time outside the gate, even when He was crucified it was done outside the gate. We don't view Jesus as a man who would spend His time outside the gate...even though Scripture is clear that He did. He, Dr. Platt, went on to say that in our minds we turn Jesus into our own image. We turn Him into what we're comfortable with and discard the real Jesus. In doing so, Dr. Platt points out, that we're no longer worshipping Jesus on Sunday mornings, we're worshipping ourselves.

Wow.

Let that sink in a little bit. Just think for a minute about who you've got Christ summed up to be.

Second, Dr. Platt mentioned a state convention newspaper that had two stories on the cover. One was about a church celebrating the grand opening of their brand new $23,000,000 building. The other, was about a mission to feed the starving in the Sudan. The article was apparently good and Dr. Platt liked it, until he got to the end, where he found out how much was raised to feed the hungry: $5,000.

Hearing that prompted me to find out where my priorities are. Here I am working toward a simple life and suddenly I'm faced with something has completely stirred the pot.

I have a NICE roof over my head, I drive a NICE car, I never go hungry - I actually eat more than I should, I have a GOOD income, a GOOD job, a HEALTHY family.

What on earth am I whining about?!?! ...what with "my life is too complicated"! Baloney!

I should be praising the Lord, giving everything I can and serving the Lord!