Current mood:	quixotic
Current music:	Jeremy Riddle - Sweetly Broken

Your Throne
If asked to list the top 10 priorities in my life, I would be surprised if God was on that list. Maybe religion, but God? Nah.

"We measure the worth of a hidden treasure by what we will gladly sell to buy it. If we will sell all, then we measure the worth as supreme. If we will not, what we have is treasured more. 'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field' (Matt. 13:44). The extent of his sacrifice and the depth of his joy displays the worth that he puts on the treasure of God. Loss and suffering, joyfully accepted for the kingdom of God, shows the supremacy of God's worth more clearly in the world than all worship and prayer."
~ John Piper Let the Nations Be Glad

Once again, prompted by a blog profile...

#1GOD,family&friends,DANCE(the love of my life). cant wait til im 18 and OUT of here! :D. i love people. i love doing things. i love everything about being a girl. i like to enjoy life. and have fun. i like funny people. no regrets. do exactly what you crave. no looking back. love who you are and what you do. relax. live, laugh, love. my philosophy.

For all I know, this girl could really place God as #1 in her life, and I don't want to judge her, but from my own personal experiences, it seems as if God is rarely on the throne that others think that we place Him on.

A while back, a friend of mine felt a strong calling from God to not graduate high school. Not "don't go to college" or "go into the missions field right after high school" but he felt extremely called to not graduate high school. Now, I know most of you guys might be thinking, "Not graduate high school? Wtf? Fricking moron! He's probably just lazy and doesn't want to do his work" Thing is, the elders at his church, including his youth pastor and wife, thought and said the same things. Without any sort of prayer for discernment, they told him, "No. Uh uh. There's no possible way that that is in God's will."

It's a shame what so many of us Christians have placed on the thrones in our lives. Regardless of our passion and vocational calling that we claim might be in ministry, many of us still expect to following the traditional Asian-American path to succes: do well on the SATs, do well in school, go to youth group and possibly serve there, go to prom, graduate from high school, go to a UC, maybe serve on a college ministry; go on some missions or something, graduate from college and maybe go to graduate school, find a good wife candidate, find a good job, have kids, maybe serve at a home church and send your kids to youth group, and then eventually, die.

I am not necessarily frowning upon this lifestyle because I think that those following this path often have a hard time finding time for God, and I praise those who are able to do it, but who said that we all have to follow this path? Who said that we had to graduate? Who said that we had to go to a UC? Who said this is the life that is meant for all of us? Yes, I do believe that high school and college help give you a leg up in society now and days, but regardless, if you truly felt called to give up the hopes of achieving/having any of the things listed above, could you do it?

Could you not graduate high school? Could you bear the shame of those from your graduating class looking down upon you with disdain?

Could you not go to prom, and instead go serve on the street knowing that you will never have another chance for your class's prom again?

Could you not have a wife? Could you bear the loneliness of knowing that there might never been someone that would be willing to "butter your toast" {I have no idea what that means, but Ed (Ed, Edd, and Eddy) said it a lot}.

And I won't say any more "could you"s because I tend to ramble on and on with examples, and I'm sure you get the point by now.

I'm not asking, "Will you?" but rather "Could you?" If not, there's a whole lot of crap in your life that means a whole lot more to you than God. You could say, "Yeah, I'd go to the ends of the earth," but as C.S. Lewis said, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you" (A Grief Observed).

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
Luke 14:26-27 (ESV)

The actual Greek translation doesn't mean hate, but rather, "Love less." Truly, the life of a Christian is one of death to the world and a life for Christ. As it says on my arm, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phillipians 1:21).

Are you willing to break up with your girlfriend? Are you willing to reject your friends, and possibly even your family? Are you willing to quit your extracurricular activities? Are you willing to be shunned? Are you willing to die? Are you willing to love? Are you willing to place God above all? What's really on your throne? Who's really on your throne? Who do you love most? The world or Jesus? Or rather, the blessings and gifts of God, or God Himself? Who? What?

Why?