Reflection question:
If strangers look at your life, what you say, do and have, who would they see at the center of your universe?
Since the second century, the findings of Ptomley convinced us that everything in the universe including the sun obit around Earth. However, a Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus discovered that all planets including the Earth and the moons obit around the sun during the Renaissance era. Basically, the sun is the center of our universe. This really shook many people because they want to think we (living on Earth) are the center of the universe.
What does Copernicus' finding mean for the Christian faith? I've been reading Max Lacado's It's not about me:Live like you mean it (Teen edition). In my first paragraph of this blog, I'm just summarizing a section of the first chapter. In the following, I will copy a section that really let you know that it's not about you:
"What Copernicus did for the earth, God does for our souls. He points to the Son--his Son--and says, 'Behold the center of it all.'
If strangers look at your life, what you say, do and have, who would they see at the center of your universe?
Since the second century, the findings of Ptomley convinced us that everything in the universe including the sun obit around Earth. However, a Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus discovered that all planets including the Earth and the moons obit around the sun during the Renaissance era. Basically, the sun is the center of our universe. This really shook many people because they want to think we (living on Earth) are the center of the universe.
What does Copernicus' finding mean for the Christian faith? I've been reading Max Lacado's It's not about me:Live like you mean it (Teen edition). In my first paragraph of this blog, I'm just summarizing a section of the first chapter. In the following, I will copy a section that really let you know that it's not about you:
"What Copernicus did for the earth, God does for our souls. He points to the Son--his Son--and says, 'Behold the center of it all.'
God raised him (Christ) from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. ~Ephesians 1:20-22 MSG
When God looks at the center of the universe, he doesn't look at you. When heaven's stagehands direct the spotlight toward the star of the show. I need no sunglasses. No light falls on me.
Lesser orbs, that's us. Appreciated. Valued. Loved dearly.
But central? Essential? Critical? Nope. Sorry. The world does not revolve around us. Our comfort is not God's priority.
If it is, something's gone wrong. If we are the primary event, how do we explain challenges like death, disease, or rumbling earthquakes? If God exists to please us, then shouldn't we always be pleased?
Could a Copernicus-type shift be in order? Perhaps our place is not at the center of the universe. God does not exist to make a big deal out of us. We exist to make a big deal out of him. It's not about you. It's not about me. it's all about him" (pp.3-4, 2005).
Think about it, how does a self-centered attitude and thinking really make your life worthwhile? Are you really happy in only thinking about yourself? If each one of us thinks, "It's all about me," how are we suppose to get along? How can you have love between people if you're thinking "you're number 1" and everything is for you?
Let's change that with God-centered attitude and thinking. What happens when you place God first? What happens if you played the part that God gave you as in your purpose on Earth? Would this create a positive change in your family? Or how it affects your relationships with your neighbors?
Instead of thinking, "This is what I want" as thinking like this, "What do you suppose God wants?" When you acknowledge what is God's, you respect it more. You start to see your own suffering as your pain that expands God's purpose. With your God-centered focus, you don't feel the burden of facing challenges alone. You now have someone greater than you to help you live your life to the fullest.
Lesser orbs, that's us. Appreciated. Valued. Loved dearly.
But central? Essential? Critical? Nope. Sorry. The world does not revolve around us. Our comfort is not God's priority.
If it is, something's gone wrong. If we are the primary event, how do we explain challenges like death, disease, or rumbling earthquakes? If God exists to please us, then shouldn't we always be pleased?
Could a Copernicus-type shift be in order? Perhaps our place is not at the center of the universe. God does not exist to make a big deal out of us. We exist to make a big deal out of him. It's not about you. It's not about me. it's all about him" (pp.3-4, 2005).
Think about it, how does a self-centered attitude and thinking really make your life worthwhile? Are you really happy in only thinking about yourself? If each one of us thinks, "It's all about me," how are we suppose to get along? How can you have love between people if you're thinking "you're number 1" and everything is for you?
Let's change that with God-centered attitude and thinking. What happens when you place God first? What happens if you played the part that God gave you as in your purpose on Earth? Would this create a positive change in your family? Or how it affects your relationships with your neighbors?
Instead of thinking, "This is what I want" as thinking like this, "What do you suppose God wants?" When you acknowledge what is God's, you respect it more. You start to see your own suffering as your pain that expands God's purpose. With your God-centered focus, you don't feel the burden of facing challenges alone. You now have someone greater than you to help you live your life to the fullest.
Life makes sense when we accept our place. The gift of pleasures, the purpose of problems--all for him. The God-centered life works. And it rescues us from a life that doesn't.
~P.8, Max Lacado's It's not about me