Chasing Sunsets

Apathy is so sneaky and so destructive.  I fill my day up to overflowing to feel more important, more loved, more needed.  But all I'm really doing is distracting myself and creating complacency and indifference.  I don't have time to care.  I'm too tired to help.  It's much safer to not get involved.

But Christ did not call me to a life of not getting involved.  He got involved.  He got messy.  And he calls me to do the same.

I've been reading Malachi lately and God is tired of Israel's laziness. "But you say What a weariness this is, and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts."  (Malachi 1:13)  God has just declared his glory "For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations" (Malachi 1:11a) but Israel can't be bothered.  For them, it's a hassle to sacrifice their offerings to the Lord, so they cut corners or give the bare minimum.  How often throughout the day does God declare his glory but I am too busy, tired, [fill in the blank] to notice?  How often do I give myself half-heartedly to the people around me?  A half-hearted sacrifice is worse than no sacrifice at all.

I have a friend who will literally drop everything to watch the sunset.  I've seen her stand outside in freezing weather to see the heavens declare the glory of God.  She's not content to just look up at the sky, say "How pretty" and go back to life; she searches for clearings between buildings and openings in the landscape for a better view of the sky.  She literally chases sunsets.

I want to chase sunsets.  I want to pursue the Lord, people, and this adventure with the same intensity, born out of a genuine desire to love.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, 

or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 

The sacrifices of God are a 

broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart,

O God,

you will not despise. 

Psalm 51:15-17