~ Routine Grrr

I have to admit I hate routine, no I despise routine.  It is just plain boring.  Of course I choose to set appointments and meetings at the same time and day whenever I can.

Quite frankly I am not sure where this is going.  It might be just a mini rant or this might develop into some sort of blog about the power of God to put excitement into our mundane lives.  Those of you who have a naturally, or even vocationally exciting lives may not have this problem but most of us live very ordinary lives where mundane is the norm and anything out of the ordinary is special.

When I talk about excitement, I am not on about adrenalin rush activities like jumping of the top of a building even at any height.  Excitement is that pause you experience when you get the question of what next.  It is that moment when you hit a crossroad, even one that is of your own making, like having to prioritize between two events.

It seems to me that Jesus in us gives you and I, in our new life in Him, a double life.  A life focussed on our day to day experience and a life which has Jesus life at our core.  There is an anomaly here in that what we have in daily life may not be Christ honouring just by the way that we go about our day.  I am not suggesting that the job you are doing is not one that Christ followers should be doing – although there are some that are suspect.  Even then Jesus may have you or I to continue in that suspect job just to bring a Christ presence to it.

You see the thing that I am talking about as “Jesus Life” is more than the workaday experience it is about how you do your job and even how you live your life.  It is essentially about how you treat people – it really is that simple.  Certainly there are other personal faith applications that enable us to live the life He calls us to, but the proof of the pudding, so to speak, is how well people see Jesus living in our lives.

I am not talking about our piety or the activities that we do, or don’t do.  It is the simple way that we relate to people we encounter.  This is not about friend or acquaintances, it is much h wider Jesus told the religious leaders that their revered ten commandments came down to two

            Love God with all of your being, and

            Love other people as you love yourself.

To this He added three years of recorded ministry in which He exemplified that love in His life and death.

The prophet Micah in Chapter 6 verse 8 tells Israel what God expects of His people it goes like this in the Message Bible:

But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously— take God seriously.

I find this to be a lot like Jesus answer to the religious leaders.  It is not high ethics or any complicated formula we are simply to treat others as we would like to be treated with something as simple as a smile or friendly word and let the love of Father and Son shine into that person’s life – this may lead to a chance to love these people into the Kingdom whether by you or another who takes the Jesus life seriously.