Last Sunday, Wade preached about the miracles of Jesus. He brought a different perspective than most of us are used to, and challenged us by asking, “Do you just want God so He can meet your needs?” A few days ago, I was reading My Utmost for His Highest, a daily devotional by Oswald Chambers, a Scottish preacher from around the late 1800s through the early 1900s. His book is excellent, and I would highly recommend it for all Christians, and especially those who are involved in ministering to others (like worship team members, choir members, Kids 252 volunteers, small group leaders, Sunday school teachers, etc).

Chambers’ devotion from March 12 has some striking points which relate to the message Wade brought last Sunday. He says, speaking of surrender to God,

Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want You; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’”

This is what Wade challenged us with, isn’t it? What do we want from God? Do we want Him, or what He can offer us? For myself, I was taken by Wade’s message and by this devotional. I find myself all too often asking, “What am I going to get from this?” I realize that my prayers become little more than lists of needs I want God to take care of, and the worship service becomes a stale routine when those needs aren’t met in the way I think they should. What I need to be reminded of is to seek after God and to not worry about the problems I need fixed. God will handle those problems as He sees fit. He may not heal my Grandpa in the nursing home, or fix my cousin’s troubled marriage. But those are His decisions and problems, not mine. My purpose is simply to pursue Him, to completely surrender to His will, and strive to please Him and know Him every day in all that I do.