Tuesday, September 20, 2011

O Magnify...

What does my life magnify?

  -the wretchedness, the anguish, the evil of the world around me?
  -the peculiar faults and needs of the people I work with?
  -the failures and weaknesses of my loved ones?
  -my own pain, my inadequacies, my fears, my burdens?

Or perhaps,
  -my possessions, my family, my ministry, my gifts?
  -my ambitions, my dreams, my experience, my achievements?
  -my opinions, my wisdom, or my goodness?

Oh, let it be none of that!  My heart cries with Mary, "My soul does magnify the LORD, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."  So, what does magnifying God look like in my life?  It is praise and thanksgiving, especially when it is costly.  It is inviting God to transform me by the renewing of my mind, although old thought patterns are easier.  It is living each moment in the reality that life is all about Jesus, and Jesus only.  It is not beating up my old self, but simply not taking it into consideration at all.  Surrendering my will for His, even when mine feels better...  Looking at life with eternity in my heart...  Expressing joy when I don't feel like it...  Showing appreciation when it's not deserved...  Loving people who don't make me look good...  Speaking words of life in place of condemnation...  Dispelling fear with trust and love...

What about magnifying God to my children?  Do they know that honoring God is the most important thing in my life?  What do they see when my plans are thwarted, my will crossed, my expectations not met?  Do they see me stress over my dirty house but careless about the hurting person beside me in church?  Obsessed with being right but casual about being loving?  Eager to invest in what directly benefits me, and reluctant to sacrifice for the sake of another?  Free to criticize behind someone's back, while being sweet to their face?

What would they say my life magnifies?  Me... or Jesus?

1 comment:

Linda said...

I think...
that our hearts must be on journeys that are perpendicular to each other.
Gracias.