Once the Spirit of Jesus Christ envelopes us and becomes King of our lives, everything takes on a new name. It is as if we finally realize we've been wandering around on an abandoned stage; as if we've been driving a Matchbox car through a train-set town to a particle board place of work and speaking to plastic mannequins. Before Christ, there is no definition. His resurrection gave our world meaning and tangibility.
For three years I worked at a department store in Colorado Springs. My first year there was spent behind a cash register. Some may contest that a "cubical job" is more mundane than cashiering. At my job, though, I had cubical walls, too. They were made up of people. Yeah, my walls could talk, but they were still walls, nonetheless. I would walk into work, step behind my register and stare at the walls decorated with mutual fake smiles and heartless greetings. I did not want to be there and our customers didn't really care if I was there or not. I just needed to make money. I just needed to get a check so I could pass it on to those I owed. Otherwise, I would be doing something more meaningful… right?
I am not quite sure when it happened, but it happened. There was no particular "mountaintop experience" that brought me out, but something changed. I found myself at a place in my relationship with Christ where work became an instrument. I remember reading the Apostle Paul's words to the church in Colossi: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…" (Col. 3:23). Gradually, I started working for the glory of God. That sounds strange because a department store does not constitute a typical place of worship, but even though there was no organ playing and no choir behind me, whenever I entered into that store, I began to worship! This department store became my mission field. I began to look for ways I could show my coworkers how much God loves them. I began to speak to our customers differently… not because of some company policy, or because I would lose my job if didn't treat them right, but because of the love of God. I desired to serve my coworkers and customers because the story of which we are a part is not about me… it is about our loving Savior who died to serve us.
In every other area of our lives instruments or tools are used as a means of necessity. We use instruments not because they look interesting or because we want to, but because we must. They are the easiest means by which something may be fixed or made. Likewise, God will use various instruments to renew us. In fact, everyone and everything becomes an instrument used by God to transform us. When we open our hearts to God He draws us near to Himself (John 12:32). In fact, we become instruments as well… used to minister to the other human instruments. God moves among humanity like a breathing, brooding fog. He is incalculably and unfathomably expressive. He is intuitively and intrinsically involved in our everyday lives. The Believer must keep this in the forefront of his mind at all times. God is constantly at work. He pushes us and pulls us into righteousness. If we are not aware of His tools, it becomes easy for us to overlook the Kingdom He's building with them. When we aren't mindful of the instruments He's using, we are simply wandering around on an empty stage with cardboard houses and voiceless dolls.
So, when we open ourselves up to be used as "instruments of righteousness" (Rom. 6:13) it is to build the Kingdom of God. The Spirit of God takes over. Everything takes on new meaning. Everything takes shape. Everything comes to life. In the second part of this entry, I would like to explain some of the many ways of life that change for us when our eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit to the truest reality.
