Oh Lord, why have I forsaken you for the world?
Holding the hand of God daily and looking up at Him, oh how beautiful a sight that would be. Then trying to show Him the other hand filled with the world and He immediately disappears. Wouldn’t that bring you great sorrow? Enough to push you into a panic to find Him once again which could be difficult in the midst of the fire, but He’s already saved you from that fire and we must remember that. If I truly believe that He is my Savior then nothing can shake me, I know that once I quiet my thoughts I’ll find Him again.
So then how does one quiet their thoughts when they have a million things to do? You must go back to the base of the message of the good news and align your life with what St. Paul was preaching. We are not apart of the world and we are only here passing through, trying to bring as many people as we can with us before the Throne of God and show them the love He has shown us instead of the bitter love the world has known. Oh, how pleasing and beautiful it is in the sight of God for us to care about the salvation of the student sitting next to us and not grow anxious about failing the next exam.
Let us ask God for wisdom to help someone and not just wisdom to pass an exam.
Let us ask Him for kindness to spread His word on campus without wanting any recognition.
Let our names melt so that people look at us and wonder why we act differently in the world and come to know our loving and Heavenly Father. If I truly evaluate each part of my life and make sure they are Christ-like I would not be so immersed in the world. I would not want to be rightly justified in an argument if I remembered Christ as He was spit on and falsely accused and did not defend Himself. I would not exalt myself and expect the best rank and paying job if I remember how Jesus cleansed the filth off of the disciple’s feet. If I constantly remember the words of the Gospel and the way He walked amongst us sinners I would love Him all the more and forget about everything that troubles me in this world, whether that’s on campus, at home, or at work.
St. Paul would often call the people in the Church saints, but we tend to elevate this name and misuse it. The Orthodox Study Bible says that the word Saint means “Set apart to God” and truly so because He has adopted us. Now imagine a loving father who has adopted you off the streets and loved you unconditionally even when you turn from Him, you would want to come back at the end of every day and put a smile on His face just as He has done for you.
I believe that we can all do this if we adopt the mindset of a full-time Christian. When you introduce yourself to someone you often say you go to so and so college, this is your major and what you want to do in the future. Could we possibly change this mindset? Could we then instead of saying I want to become a doctor to help people say that I want to treat the bodily sickness of someone and allow God’s love to heal their aching soul? Our goal is not for success in this world but to love one another as He loved us, thus being a full-time Christian. You could call yourself a full-time student, you must go to class and study in order to pass and glorify God through your job one day. But you could also glorify Him this very second as well. If you didn’t go to class and didn’t study…then you would fail…and wouldn’t be successful in this world. So if I am a full-time Christian and don’t speak to Him daily and read His word with silence, making sure it’s not rushed, then I too will fall into the cracks of this world and defile the cross I wear around my neck.
Fast forward to when you God willing get a job one day. You will be obligated to show up for work 40 hours a week as an estimate. You are a full-time _____, and at the end of every two weeks, you will receive a paycheck. A piece of paper that controls you and makes you desire more from this wretched would. Can we not then look back at those two weeks and go to God with something beautiful to offer? God, I love you so much that I sacrificed an hour of sleep to speak to you. Lord, I was supposed to hang out with a friend but my mom was so tired and I helped her clean. Would you look at my deeds and overlook my sins, Lord? Or will I come to my beloved with an empty lamp yet again? Now a full-time Christian will hold their weekly spiritual schedule with utmost importance and at the end of every day will look up to Him with great joy that could never be measured and greater than seeing the beauty from the highest mountain. So what is a spiritual schedule some might ask? It could be something where you feel closest to God and His immediate presence. If you love serving the homeless then treat this as if you were being paid for it. If you love going to tasbeha or reading then treat it as a weekly date with your Savior. Even if you have plans, it is worth the sacrifice. How could I possibly cancel on meeting with my Beloved just because my friends have scheduled something during that time? Once we start to compromise with the world and try to make God fit within our schedules then this is when we show Him the hand filled with worldly cares and He immediately disappears. I must prioritize Him in my life or else all will come crumbling down; prioritize Him as you would prioritize eating. You must eat in order to live, you also must feed your spirit for you to walk in the world without having it affect you.
Every day we must rise early and give thanks to Him. Ask him, how can I please You today? How could I not upset my beloved Groom and glorify Your name rather than sit in comfort all my life?
I believe we have immersed ourselves in the world because we have taken our thoughts away from the heavenly. Why would I not give a mean person a smile, giving them hope with the cross I wear around my neck? I read books daily on sacrificial love toward God but have I helped my neighbor in shoveling their driveway for free because of how tired they look? Let us not run inside our homes reading more but bringing condemnation upon ourselves. He will come to us and say, why have you not applied the many words you have read? Why have you not repented so that I may walk with you daily?