Way #49 – We’ve Moved

After sixteen years in a house I LOVED — a house in which our family grew, a house into which we invited and shared life with many — we’ve moved. We’ve left 1.5 acres and moved to the thirtieth floor of a high rise. And we couldn’t be more excited. The decision process began seven months ago. Over time it stirred and swelled and became what I call a holy compulsion. Not moving wasn’t an option.

Through the process I’ve become convinced that God is moving His people. Not necessarily from one home or city to another — though I’m seeing that too. God is calling His people to move out of their “holy huddles,” their comfort zones, complacency, and self-focus, and go out into the world. God wants His people to move among the people of the world, sharing with them the life we have found in Him, the joy we have in knowing Him.

I have friends who frequent coffee shops and a variety of establishments seeking to meet people and form relationships with them. They’re inviting neighbors into their homes and lives — people who don’t know Jesus, often with lifestyles that are very different from their own. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Do you remember the story of Zacchaeus? He was the “wee little man” to whose house Jesus invited Himself, even knowing he’d be criticized for it: “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner” (Luke 19:7).

Jesus lived life among the people, often spending time with those the religious establishment deemed “too sinful” to be around. He didn’t spend all His time in the synagogues, or with those who already believed in Him. God never intended His people to do life with just one another. Jesus was clear: He said to go! Go to all nations and make disciples, whether in your backyard or on the other side of the world. In other words, tell people about your relationship with Jesus. Then share your story and show them how they can know and follow Him too. Remember what God said:

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:13-14).

There are people whom God has ordained to hear about Jesus from you, to be drawn closer to Him through you. So where do we begin? The first move God calls us to make is a move closer to Him:

“From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’” (Acts 17:26-28).

God moved in your life, setting the exact times and places you would live so that you would seek Him, reach out for Him. Daily, He calls you to move closer to Him. He invites you to receive life, to receive all you need for your life, from Him. Then, the very places where He has placed you, the people He brings your way and those He puts on your heart are those to whom He wants you to go. He asks you to go and share the life you have found in Him.

Are you willing to practice Way #49 of 52 Ways to Glorify God?

Let God move you into the lives of others.

Christians in every generation have longed for a great move of God, but maybe God is waiting for His people to move greatly — to draw near to Him, be led by and empowered by Him with the goal of moving other people closer to Him.