I want it now!

We live in the most heavily marketed to society that the world has even known. We want it now and that's not soon enough and when we get it, it's outdated so we want the next thing that will make us "happy". Christ calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him but do any of us really practice that? Do we even know how to do it?
But self-denial isn't about just not buying the latest and greatest, it's also about the denial of our impulsive actions. I think of Peter in today's bible reading in Matthew 26 where Jesus and the disciples are in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus is being arrested. Peter makes an impulsive attempt to "defend" Jesus, by drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Peter then is rebuked by Christ because he was getting in the way of the plan that God had. In today's devotional Dr. Blackaby gives us a similar warning, "The world will entice you to adopt its goals and to invest in temporal things. Resist the temptation to pursue your own goals, asking God to bless them. Rather, deny yourself and join the activity of God as He reveals it to you."
Around our dinner table at night my family and I attempt to not just have a meal but to reconnect after a long day. One of our routines is to play "best and worst" which is where we all tell what our best and worst parts of our day has been. One thing that we have recently have started doing is to report some way that we told ourselves "no!" that day. When we started this routine it was because I had read about this exercise in a parenting book, "She Calls Me Daddy". The idea was to teach my girls the beauty and reward of self-denial and self-discipline. I found that my children, as with most children, have a difficult time saying no to themselves which is what I expected. However, what I also found out was how terrible I am at it.
Self denial is not the norm and is very difficult to do especially if our focus is on us. However if we "join the activity of God" as Dr. Blackaby reminds us then our focus turns to God's activity and he gets the glory for what He accomplishes in and through our lives. Nike and the rest of the world says "Just do it!" but I would submit to you that we need to grow in our relationship with the Lord daily so that we are characterized more and more every day by the denial of our self-interests and impulses and more into the likeness of Christ, the ultimate model for self-denial. To Him be the glory! Thank you Jesus!
Mark Gilliam
Stewardship Minister