Prove It - Philippians 2

What song do you have stuck in your head right now? Right now, for me, it's that country song, "... I'm an Indian outlaw, half Cherokee and Choctaw, my baby, she's a Chippewa, she's a one of a kind...". I gotta confess, I love that song! It's cheesy, but so catchy and it has the Seminole Warchant in it, so you really can't go wrong there. (:

Why does a mind get stuck on phrases and strings of words? Is it from overexposure? Do the synapses in our brain replay tunes for a specific reason? Stick with me here for a minute with the segue...

Do some bible verses get stuck in our head because we need to listen to them (internally) over and over until we understand them? For me, the answer is yes! Meditation -- thinking on God's Word -- keeps my heart in a teachable state.

As part of the blogging bible study in Philippians, I've read over chapter 2 a couple of times and verses 14-16 (especially 15) and 22 are on repeat in my mind.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.

Verses 14-16 are a challenge to a lifestyle of purity of heart. I confess that this is a struggle for me, just as it was for the Philippians. We are all sinners, but we have been saved by God's grace through Jesus so that we may be DIFFERENT, holy, and dare I say... righteous. I want to be appear as a light in the world. I do not want to be a candle hidden under a basket (Luke 11). I want to hate the perverse things of our generation: acceptance of homosexuality, abortion, greed, abandonment of widows and orphans. I want to "love the sinner and hate the sin", as the saying goes. Right now I feel like my lifestyle is more of "love the sinner, be indifferent about their sin", and I pray that I choose a more narrow path in obedience to Christ.

I also included verse 22 because it reflected Paul's challenge to "prove yourselves". Timothy served faithfully as a young pastor with Paul, and Paul cites his "proven worth". I want to note here that our service and faith are not so that other people will notice. No. We work for the Lord. However, believers should be reliable. We should be dependable. We should be proven. Again, I feel like I fall short in this area. I confess again that I flake out when I should be serving. I've commited to playing with our worship team at church and have yet to pick up my guitar but a few times since Emmy was born. I feel led to serve in the nursery as well but haven't troubled myself to sign up and do the simple paperwork. I know that doing these things won't bring me into a closer relationship to my God, and I hope that these confessions don't seem like self-flagellation, but this is a truth in my life right now.

I am called to service. I am called to be proven. I am not called to a life of laziness or excuses or fear. I am called to be worthy of the gospel. And I know that by meditating on these verses, the Holy Spirit will give me the strength needed to live, love and serve in faith.