"Excitement, eh. Adventure, eh. A Jedi craves not these things." While these things from the character Yoda in Star Wars might be true for Jedi, they are not true for most humans. While we may not want danger, the fact that there is such a market for TV, video games, and books, that are filled with exciting stories and adventure, demonstrates that most people want some type of excitement in their life, even if it is a safe and pretend form. Sadly though our real life so often does not reflect the lives that we enjoy in these various stories. Real life is filled with routine, the usual day in and day out stuff that all of us go through such as, waking up, getting ready for work or school, talking to the same people, and pretty much having the same constants every day with very little variables. Is this a bad thing however?
There are those who would argue that routine is bad if it continues for too long. It has been said that routine can ruin romantic relationships in that routine is not really romantic. Of course we have countless fictional examples of men and women leaving their regular routine lives to live a more exciting and fulfilling life. There have been Christian authors who have spoken about how if a Christian's life is routine, then they are not living the life that God called them to live because he called them to live an abundant life. From these comments it would seem that living a routine life is something to be avoided at all costs, but what does scripture say?
To be sure, scripture is replete with examples of exciting stories from David escaping Saul or Elijah challenging the false prophets to a sort of cook off to see if their gods were better than Yahweh to many exploits of the apostle Paul. Yet we also see people who seemed to live a pretty ordinary life, such as Mary and Martha, who are perhaps best known for hosting a party for Jesus. This is an exciting moment to be sure, but not because of their action, but rather because of who Jesus is. Of course we also have 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 which reads, "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you".
What Paul meant here is that Christians should not seek to be well known from a worldly perspective and by outward acts of extravagance but should be known through humble and Christ-like behavior. While at first one might wonder what this verse has to do with the question of routine, I use it to demonstrate that the Christian worldview is different from the the world's. Nowadays it seems like unless someone is trying to achieve some type of mass recognition or mass success, they are wasting their life on the mundane. Scripture feels differently about that however. From the Bible's perspective, if one is living a life with impeccable character and teaching their family to do the same, then one is living a noble life. One holds a job that the world would consider worthless, and yet if one is a good father or mother, then, from scripture's view, they have accomplished something great. To be clear to all the hard workers out there who do become successful from the world's standard, I don't seek to diminish their accomplishment, but I want to encourage the parents who did not have the highest paying job but raised their children to love God and love their neighbor. From scripture's point of view, the person who emulates Christ and lives humbly has done more for the kingdom of God than the one who lives an important life and yet their character leaves much to be desired.
When it comes to looking at our lives, there is always the temptation to judge it by the world's standard, which usually looks to things on the outside. Scripture, on the other hand, constantly points us inward, examining our inward qualities such as integrity, charity, humility, and purity. Christ exemplified all of these traits well, and, by the Spirit, we can grow so that we can be witnesses of Christ from the inside out. What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject. You can comment below, and let me know, and as always thanks for stopping by. God bless.
There are those who would argue that routine is bad if it continues for too long. It has been said that routine can ruin romantic relationships in that routine is not really romantic. Of course we have countless fictional examples of men and women leaving their regular routine lives to live a more exciting and fulfilling life. There have been Christian authors who have spoken about how if a Christian's life is routine, then they are not living the life that God called them to live because he called them to live an abundant life. From these comments it would seem that living a routine life is something to be avoided at all costs, but what does scripture say?
To be sure, scripture is replete with examples of exciting stories from David escaping Saul or Elijah challenging the false prophets to a sort of cook off to see if their gods were better than Yahweh to many exploits of the apostle Paul. Yet we also see people who seemed to live a pretty ordinary life, such as Mary and Martha, who are perhaps best known for hosting a party for Jesus. This is an exciting moment to be sure, but not because of their action, but rather because of who Jesus is. Of course we also have 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 which reads, "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you".
What Paul meant here is that Christians should not seek to be well known from a worldly perspective and by outward acts of extravagance but should be known through humble and Christ-like behavior. While at first one might wonder what this verse has to do with the question of routine, I use it to demonstrate that the Christian worldview is different from the the world's. Nowadays it seems like unless someone is trying to achieve some type of mass recognition or mass success, they are wasting their life on the mundane. Scripture feels differently about that however. From the Bible's perspective, if one is living a life with impeccable character and teaching their family to do the same, then one is living a noble life. One holds a job that the world would consider worthless, and yet if one is a good father or mother, then, from scripture's view, they have accomplished something great. To be clear to all the hard workers out there who do become successful from the world's standard, I don't seek to diminish their accomplishment, but I want to encourage the parents who did not have the highest paying job but raised their children to love God and love their neighbor. From scripture's point of view, the person who emulates Christ and lives humbly has done more for the kingdom of God than the one who lives an important life and yet their character leaves much to be desired.
When it comes to looking at our lives, there is always the temptation to judge it by the world's standard, which usually looks to things on the outside. Scripture, on the other hand, constantly points us inward, examining our inward qualities such as integrity, charity, humility, and purity. Christ exemplified all of these traits well, and, by the Spirit, we can grow so that we can be witnesses of Christ from the inside out. What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject. You can comment below, and let me know, and as always thanks for stopping by. God bless.