Jim Ewing

Are You Serving Yourself Or Are You Serving The Lord?

Only one life, t'will soon be past- Only what's done for Christ will last...

."For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)." The choices that we human beings make (both believers and non-believers alike) have such an impact, not only on us, but also on those to whom we relate, and in turn, on those to whom they relate. This is one of the important aspects of witnessing and evangelization, for as we share Christ with others, they in turn share Christ, and so on, and many people are affected and impacted.....

There are so many things that people can and do give themselves to, aren't there? We all have certain talents and bents and preferences (not necessarily evil or destructive in and of themselves), and a person who is without Christ will pursue their heart's desire- be it good or bad- and history is replete with examples of individuals who go to great lengths to accomplish 'great' things. This world of ours is full of wonders. It's also full of distractions. People have devoted their entire lives from youth 'till their death, to objects, ideas, concepts, things that they hold near and dear, that have no eternal value whatsoever.

Again, these pursuits may be not be in and of themselves bad, but to seek knowledge or experiences- even the most worthy of exploits- will always be fatally incomplete if God is not our ultimate desire. We human beings so misuse our wonderfully engineered minds and bodies, often without even pondering the long term affects. Those without Christ simply don't know better, but the Body of Christ ought to. A believer who seeks to pursue his or her own way, with little regard for the will and leading of God's Spirit, is in a more pitiful position than a lost person doing the same thing, because the Christian knows that he or she has a redeemer to whom we will ultimately answer- a redeemer who created and knows every one of us, and He beckons to us, "Come unto Me". He never stops calling us, but will we listen?

Kathryn Kuhlman spoke to a group of graduating students at a Christian University in 1974, concerning the remainder of their young lives, "The choices that you make can shake the world for God!" It's easy to see, if you've studied her life, where she stood in terms of making choices, and what her priorities were- and she wanted to impart these things to those young students. Miss Kuhlman knew the potential that those kids had. She knew their Lord. But she also knew that the choice was theirs, and if they didn't let the world know who Jesus Christ was, then they would not have fulfilled their high calling. Sure, they knew the Savior, but was He their passion, their goal, their very lives? Kathryn Kuhlman had a way of making people see things as they are in reality, and that graduating class took notice!

Believer, whom are you serving this very moment? How do you want to be remembered? What matters most to you?....

Only one life, t'will soon be past- only what's done for Christ will last.


Pastor Jim Ewing