A Great Commission Core

David Black (who blogs here) wrote these words today and they gripped my heart upon reading them and I think they deserve sharing as well.  Here's what Dave wrote:

It is the Great Commission that ought to drive everything we do as followers of Jesus. Some people think they can be good Christians by attending the fellowship, singing songs, praying prayers, teaching one another, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth. We must return to Jesus' revolutionary, cross-based ministry. How different is this kind of self-sacrificing Christianity from the comfort-seeking, self-serving, ingrown religion so often practiced in our churches! This Jesus who humbled Himself as a servant and who died as a criminal -- this same Jesus is the One who was always pressing on to preach the Gospel in the next village. His heart's cry was for the dead and the dying, for the lost, the sick, the undone. He was willing to let everything go for the sake of lost souls. When I finally came to understand that this very same Jesus was desiring to live His missional life through me, I felt as if He had shoved a knife into my heart. But finally I knew the work he had for me. The true test of my commitment is not how much I give or even what I believe but how I live. God is not just asking us to give our money to missions but to make missions the core of our lives, the central passion in all we do.

More and more as I read the Word and pray and learn from my brothers and sister in Christ I cannot help but feel that following Jesus is "more."  It is more than what I am seeing.  It is more than what I am sometimes hearing.  It is more than what I am doing.  It is a total life commitment.  It is more than a willingness to love my neighbor, but it actually loves my neighbor.  Whatever it is, I want it. 


I often think of Jesus' words in the Sermon in the Mount.  One of the Beatitudes states:  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."  Yes, Lord!  Please place in me a hunger and thirst for you and the things of you that can only be quenched by you! 


Praying that prayer continually I look ahead to what God has for me today, and tomorrow.  I don't know what it will be, but I do know that he is already there.  I want the Great Commission to be at the core of my being as I live for and follow God.