This has been one of those weeks where God has been trying to get my attention about a specific topic…and it worked this week. It was easy to pick up on this time. It’s not hard when every time I turned around He was speaking to me in one form another. I was getting it from Scripture, from the sermon on Sunday and from two of the books I’m currently reading (I counted and I am currently reading 6 books right now…starting to wonder how I’m keeping them all straight).

Anyway, when God uses that many different resources to speak to me, I usually try to pay pretty close attention. And this is a character issues that the Spirit is prodding me to work on. It’s not a sin issue, just a character development issue that He has chosen now to address. And the issue is about letting go of my own comfort and living my life for Him in the open.

I confess that I place far too much emphasis on being “accepted” by those around me (”the world” for a better term). It’s hard for me to suffer for Christ and live a life that’s truly counter to our culture…I’d much rather try and blend into the background of society…not make too many waves as a Christian.

What’s been clear to me this week is that God is calling me to live my Christian walk more “on the edge”. To be more “counter-culture” versus “culture sensitive”. To stand out instead of blending in. To be God’s man in the open instead of in the background.

That’s no comfortable, but it’s God’s calling for every Christian…and it’s what He’s working on in me right now. It doesn’t mean being obnoxious or rude…it means taking Him into my daily life and sharing Him with others even when that makes me uncomfortable (when I’d rather just keep my mouth shut instead of offending the other person or making them feel uncomfortable).

He asked me this question this morning: “David, have you every truly made a stand for Me?”. Ouch! I can’t honestly say that I’ve done it too much. And when I think about the spiritual giants (Jesus, Paul, Peter, etc) I can’t help but notice that every once in awhile (or more) they ruffled a few feathers. Their intentions were always good, but the Gospel message always seems to have that effect at some time. And I haven’t been sharing that message enough in my daily walk…at work specifically…to ever ruffle anyone’s feathers. I’m too busy making sure “everyone likes me”.

Like I said, I’m working on it with His help. I started this morning by giving Him “permission” (like He really needs it right?) to begin and continue this work in me. To show me the areas in my life where I’m holding back or am not seizing an opportunity for Him because I’m holing back in order to save face. I am yielding this part of my spiritual life to Him. I must admit it’s a little unnerving…but whoever said following Christ was easy? (and if they did say it…what planet were they on?)