Just passing emissions...you JUST GOTTA PASS EMISSIONS!!! I remember sever years ago, while lying in bed, about to drift to sleep, that thought kept running through my mind. All you gotta do to keep your car is to get it to PASS EMISSIONS...if it doesn't pass...you gotta get it fixed or get a new car...JUS PASS EMISSIONS. I'm not trying to win any car races, i'm not trying to do any fancy tricks or show off my stuff, I just need a mode of transportation that is reliable, I just need something that will get me from point A to point B and as I lay there with this RANDOM thought running through my mind... I had to get up out of bed to write down the thought that began to formulate in my mind...
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Sometimes that's how we are in our walk with God, we're JUST TRYING TO PASS EMISSIONS!!! We live with mindset of, I just wanna make it to heaven! Now don't get me wrong, I JUST WANT TO MAKE IT TO HEANEN TOO!!! There is NO greater goal that I strive for in this life than t make it to heaven. That is THE HOPE that we live for in this life...HEAVEN!!!
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Everyone will always tell me, JUST MAKE SURE that your check engine light isn't on when you go to get your checked for emissions, because they will NEVER pass a car with that on...
Annnnnd we start to live with that same check engine concept in our own life. Just so long as there is no sin in my life, I'll make it to heaven and we're not striving for anything MORE...I just got to NOT SIN!!! I know we've got to continually live in a state of repentance. However, there is something in my heart that wants to do MORE than, just MAKE IT TO HEAVEN!!! There is a song that we used to listen to as kids, and the lyrics to that song said, ♪You can't get to heaven on roller skates, cuz you'll ROLL right by those pearly gates...♪ And it seems like sometimes that's how we are living our lives, just skating a long. We're NOT sinning, we've obeyed Acts 2:38, buuuuut we're NOT really do anything MORE for God, than JUST MAKING IT TO HEAVEN!!! There is SOMETHING in my heart that says, ITS NOT ENOUGH for me to do just be GOOD!!!
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I remember my brother's eating the dinner I had cooked one time, and I asked them how it was and they said, yeah it was good. And I said THATS IT??? JUST GOOD??? I wanted to hear them say it was MORE than just good, I wanted them to hear them say it was AWESOME!!! Another time, I made these homemade twix bars and I asked the guys at my church to rate them from 1-10 and they came up with an 8.5! I was like, WHAAAAT??? Just an 8.5??? One of them explained to me, that's pretty good! A 5 is AVERAGE, so an 8.5 is definitely ABOVE average. But there is something inside of me that just isn't satisfied with just being ABOVE average...I WANT TO BE A TEN!!! Annnnnd when I finally reach a TEN I'm gonna start going for an 11!!!
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The Bible says that Daniel had an EXCELLENT SPIRIT!!! "Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him..." (Daniel 6:3) I want to have an EXCELLENT spirit within me. I don't want to waste my life living for God. Its not enough for me to just have a GOOD spirit, I'm striving for EXCELLENCE!!!! I don't want to look back at the end of my life and say, "Weeeeeeeelllll...at least I'm saved!" At least I'm going to make it to heaven!!! Why should I wait till I get to heaven to experience the miraculous, when its RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!! There is something in my heart that wants to do MORE than just make it to heaven!!! I want to share this gospel message with as many people as possible! I want to take souls to heaven WITH ME!!! I want to know God to the fullest extent that I can possibly know him here on earth. I want to dig deeper. I want to go further! I want to knock harder! I want to be EVERYTHING that God wants me to be.
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In my own life I pray against a spirit of complacency, against a spirit of mediocrity! I don't ever want to get so comfortable that there is not a longing in my heart for something MORE. I don't want to become passive about the things of God! I don't ever want to forget what Jesus did for me, where he brought me from! I don't ever want to become so satisfied in my walk with God that I lose that hunger to talk to him, to be with him, to feel his presence! I don't ever want my life to be SO GOOD, that I begin to FORGET THAT THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME!!! I want to live with a dual feeling of homesickness for heaven and yet a desperate knowledge of the fact that there are people all around me on their way to hell.
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There is a quote that says, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everthing you gave me."I want God to use me to make a difference. I want to be a blessing to those around me! I want my life to bring him glory. I REFUSE TO JUST PASS through this life...Its NOT enough for me to just be passing the emissions of my heart, I want to soar. To one, not just slide my way into heaven, but to have an assurance of knowing that my time on earth is complete and the Lord is going to WELCOME me home...
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"His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:23)
♥Mary Frances :)