LUNCH: Usefulness or Relationship?

by Hillary Mortensen

"Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you,

but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Luke 10:20

I understand that there is reason, as a Christian, to rejoice that my name is written in heaven. However, I've always had a more difficult time understanding why I shouldn't, as a Christian, rejoice in the fact that spirits are subject to me. Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest, describes it this way: "Jesus Christ is saying here, 'Don't rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.'" Chambers goes on to explain that it's an easy trap to fall into rejoicing for how God has used you and how successful your service is instead of what God will do through you as a result of your relationship with Jesus Christ.

My performance mentality has often caused me to focus on my efforts rather than on Christ Himself. I have even found this line of thinking creeping into my thoughts on this matter of praying for Adam and contributing to this blog. I wonder how frequent or fervent my prayers are, and I rejoice when I see answers to my specific requests, based on the idea that I must have prayed hard enough. I hope that this site is "useful" to you, the blog readers and spurs your spiritual growth. Now, this isn't to say that I can't be thankful that for God responding to my prayer requests or for speaking to the hearts of those joining in these days of prayer and fasting, but as Chambers points out, if I "make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance comes from God Himself, not some measure of the saint's usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him."

That said, let our prayers today be an outpouring of our love for God, not a matter of duty or indication of usefulness. Let us concentrate on being in right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Let us rejoice in that relationship, for ourselves, for Adam and Amy. While we continue to pray for Adam's healing, let us also pray that our lives would be marked by a whole-hearted, passionate pursuit of God and knowing Him more intimately.