to be or not to be

God’s greatest desire for our lives isn’t to “go to church” or “pray before every meal” or say “excuse me” every time you burp or fart. God’s greatest desire for us, his people—the goal every Christian needs to set his/her eyes upon—is living like Jesus. Living like a Jesus freak. Some people believe that God wants them to “do this” or “do that.” People run around saying, “God wants me to be a missionary,” “God wants me to go to this school,” “God wants me to go into Social Work,” “God wants me to get involved with dinosaurs.” People are locked into the idea that God’s desires are for us to “do” stuff for him. I am not saying that they’re wrong—I am a stern believer that God could call us to be a missionary, to go to a different school or switch jobs, to get a degree in social work and help others, or maybe even do something as wacky and bizarre as involve with dinosaurs; or a mix of different things! But before God wants us to “do” anything, he wants us to “be” something. His greatest desire is for us to be like Jesus. As the annoying little tidbit goes, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? When we accept Jesus, we have a two-fold mission: 1) be like Jesus—strive to be like him and model him in every way, and 2) tell others about Jesus, his death on the cross, and the forgiveness he gives. If there’s one thing God wants us to be, he wants us to be like his Son who paid the ransom for our sins.