Giving it all away

At church yesterday our pastor's message was all about giving, and not only monetary giving, giving 100% of all you have to God. On top of that, the Sunday school class that I taught for the 6th grade boys was the parable of Jesus and the rich man, where Jesus tells him in order to follow him he must give up everything he owns. Between Sunday school and church and during the sermon, I thought long and hard about how much of myself/my life I've given to God. He wants everything from us including the burdens. He has already given us so much and He asks just a little bit in return. I thought about the areas of my life that I was selfishly withholding from God and not allowing Him to take control. I've realized that what I have wouldn't be possible if it were not for God's love, mercy, and grace. Who am I to try to withhold anything from the one who has provided it for me. It is through Him that all things are possible.

The other night we went bowling and it was the cosmic bowling thing which is really fun and you all should go and do it! Anyways at one point in the night I decided to just take a step back and just watch and see how my friends interacted with each other. I began to think about how others view me and the things that I do and how I interact with others. One of the points of our preacher's sermon yesterday was about Christians' actual beliefs. He used an equation that fits perfectly, actions + stated beliefs = actual beliefs. It is not enough to only state that I am a Christian and that I believe in Jesus Christ, but I have to put that into action and others should be able to observe me and know that by the way I act that there is something different about me and that that is the fact that I am a Christian. Therefore, it is by my actions that most people will be able to know that I am a Christian because there are so many more people that watch/see you and the things you do than you will be able to speak to. Just something to think about. Are you withholding anything from God? How do others see you?