By Chris WittsTuesday 19 Sep 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
Are you a Star Trek fan? I’m not, but there are millions of fans called Trekkies around the world. Austrek is the oldest Star Trek fan club in Australia, and the second oldest Star Trek fan club in the world.
They are dedicated to the ideals of Star Trek, and hold regular meetings, away missions, social get-togethers and charity fundraisers. The first TV series started in 1966, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down with movies coming out on a regular basis—I guess you can call it a cult phenomenon for decades.
There’s Captain Kirk and pointy-eared Mr Spock. The spaceship Enterprise was heading for Earth, and Captain Kirk saved the day. What a hero! They had to come home to get details of their new mission. They needed an assignment, and needed to know what its ‘creator’ wanted it to do. Now, I don’t fully understand much about Star Trek—unlike millions of fans—but I do know as people, we can’t just drift around in life waiting for instructions.
Unless of course we believe in God, our eternal Creator. So, what is the most important thing to learn if we had a manual to look up?
One day, as Jesus was walking down a street, a man came up to him and asked a strange question: Lord, what’s the most important command in the entire Bible? Jesus answered, “Here it is. Love the Lord your God. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). Now, when Jesus makes a strong statement like that we need to sit up and take notice. It’s important. It is of primary importance. What was he saying? Here is the most important thing to do in life. Learn to love me because I made you—know and love me back.
God Wants Your Love
When we love God we are actually worshipping him. When I say ‘worship’ most people think immediately of a church worship service. No, I’m talking more of a life attitude—giving of myself to God because he is the most important part of my life. Nothing is more important. What would he want? He made the world, and created you—surely there’s nothing he wants. But here’s the point: he wants your love. And Jesus explained it quite clearly for us in Mark 12:30: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and with all your strength”.
God doesn’t have our attention unless we do something about it. He can’t and won’t force himself—he waits for us. Some religions say ‘put your mind in neutral and let your inner power be released’. Not so for the Christian. We concentrate our thoughts on him through prayer and Christian meditation. God is focused on us all the time. The Bible says in Psalm 139: “Lord, you have examined me and You know me. You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. You see me, whether I am working or resting. You know all my actions” (verses 1-3). God never takes his eyes off us. He never stops thinking about us. He loves us so much.
And he wants us to focus our attention on him. That can be hard, because we’re not always in the right frame of mind. Our thoughts are elsewhere. Jesus explained to his disciples who struggled with this concept too: “When you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen” (Matthew 6:6). It doesn’t have to be a church—it can be anywhere, driving to work or sitting in your comfy lounge chair. Big words are not needed, for he hears your words and knows what is in your heart.
Have a Meaningful Life
What a shame so many walk around each day missing the adventure—life should be meaningful. Not necessarily every moment of every day. I mean, how meaningful is it doing the washing up? Nor should life always be serious. We all need extremely large doses of just having a good time I guess! But life has to be more than pleasure-seeking, partly because the enjoyment doesn’t last. It’s here for a moment, then gone. Author Ravi Zacharias said it well: “If there is no larger meaning to life…then life is without a driving force, without overall substance or explanation.”
An international news correspondent for TIME Magazine, Dr David Aikman, shed some light on this subject. He has a couple of postgraduate degrees, is an expert in Russian and Chinese history and communist affairs, has worked in more than 30 countries, is fluent in six languages, and is a serious thinker about life issues. He said, “Each of us has a purpose, a reason for being here, that no one else can tell you, but you can find out from God.” Dr. Aikman recommended beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Dr Aikman said: “When I heard the words of Jesus [in the Bible], it seemed to me he was speaking to my heart, and he was saying, ‘I am the way to life. If you follow me and do what I say, your life will change.'”
He then talked about taking the first step to starting a relationship with Jesus Christ, by asking him to enter his life. Dr Aikman concluded, “I can promise you…anybody that takes that first step toward Jesus Christ will have a very exciting life.”