“For
this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family
in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His
glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His
Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have
strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and
length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of
God.” -Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV).
I
read some recent statistics that state the typical American moves his
place of residence on the average of 11.7 times during a lifetime, or
once every seven or eight years, depending on life expectancy. Life
expectancy is another interesting factor. The 2014 World Health
Organization had prepared a chart of life expectancy by countries of
males and females. In the reckoning and charting, the researchers
considered many factors such as climate’s effect on longevity,
diet, health issues and yes—moving from place to place within a
given country. The United States has an average life expectancy,
overall of 79.8 years and ranks 32 among the countries. In our
county the life expectancy for males is 77.4 (with the rank among
other countries 32 ). Average female life span in the United States
is 82.2 years, ranking this age as 32 among all the countries.
Finding
this an interesting study, I listed the various places I had lived.
For the first seventeen years of my life I lived at my father’s
house on a farm in the North Georgia mountains. We did not move a
single time. But at 17 I went away to college, and from then on my
total moves to date numbered 13. That was 1.3 times more than
America’s average of family moves. I had never considered myself a
“gad-about” before, but looking back the major moves were for
education, marriage and establishing a family, following my husband’s
calling of being a pastor/minister (although his places of service
were longer by far than the average) and the last move because of
health reasons.
Considering
the current mobility of our society in the United States, I asked
myself a number of questions. I invite you to think about and
answer these for yourself as I have. How many times have you moved
in your lifetime? What are some of the challenges of moving? What
is sometimes lost when a family moves? What is gained?
In
our focal scripture for today, Paul had just reminded the readers of
his letter to the Ephesians that he had been called as the “Apostle
to the Gentiles.” As a result, he could no longer remain
steadfastly in the place where he lived and worked before the Lord
called him. He went on three extensive missionary journeys,
traveling in a broad area of the Roman Empire. He was uprooted,
persecuted, imprisoned. But wherever he was he learned to be
obedient to his call. We read his declaration: “I have learned in
whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:1b). He
further stated: “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Who was where Paul was?
“Christ…dwelled in his heart” (Ephesians 4:17 through Paul’s
faith, and he was “filled with all the fullness of God”
(Ephesians 4:19).
In
your moves from one place to another, have you been lax in finding a
new church home? Have you grown cold and distant in your commitment
to the Lord and to His claim upon your life? Is it time to move
close to God, and to invite Christ to dwell in your heart in power?
Is it time to let Christ move with you, to live within your heart, to
motivate, propel and direct you? The Rev. Vance Havner wrote: “The
middle of the road is a poor place to walk. It is a poor place to
drive. It is a poor place to live.” Pray: “Come in, Lord, and
live with me! Be the head of where I live!” -Ethelene Dyer
Jones 10.26.2014
No comments:
Post a Comment