In day 15, Warren says that in heaven we will be "rewarded and reassigned positions of service." He referenced the parable in Matthew 25 about the three servants who are given 5 talents, 2 talents, and 1 talent. If God can trust us with a little, He will trust us with a lot, not necessarily money but all blessings. What do you think this means from an eternal perspective? What do you think we will be doing in God's second kingdom? And, does "the first will be last and the last shall be first" apply to our heavenly duties?

All I know is that The Purpose Driven Life is, once again, the best book I've ever read. He talks right to me in such practical ways. What he says is so simple but it hits me as so profound. Like what I read today. (I'm a little behind the church right now.) Day 16 is about love. I have to say this is one area that I just can't understand. Love alludes me. Godly, sincere, unconditional love for all people. I can repeat what God says about it but I just don't get it. I think it may stem from my inability to receive love but that's a story for a different post. Anyways, I know that God says that the greatest love is laying my life down for someone else. But I think, "When is that ever going to be necessary?" Love seems so abstract. I can't get my self-centered head around it. Warren gave me such a simple, almost tangible way of really absorbing and living what God was trying to tell me. Let me quote him here.

"The importance of things can be measured by how much time we are willing to invest in them. The more time you give to something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you. If you want to know a person's priorities, just look at how they use their time. Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time...Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is the essence of love...The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now."

"Your time is your life." So I have the opportunity to give my life for someone else pretty much daily. I knew time was "precious" and "limited." People say that all the time. But now I think of time as love (time=love). I can grasp time. (I guess this is why God is infinite in time...) I can give time. Time is a choice, not a feeling. I get that. And now I see that I have been incredibly stingy with my time. I want it for myself and my family. I hate interruptions, but those are actually opportunities to give my time/love to something other than what I had planned. That's what God wants from me as well, some time/love alone with Him, but not all of it. He wants me then to give time/love to others and time/love by myself. I guess this is also why we don't feel time when we are sleeping. We need a break from the sacrifice. (This may be stretching it.) I love that I now have a practical, concrete concept of love. From now on, I'm going to try to interchange the two words whenever I read, think about, or hear them to see what I can learn.

This kind of touches on Jason feeling the need to volunteer. God may be calling him to give his time/love to others so that God can give Him more. Emptying and refilling of love will stretch him (and me) so we can contain even more and give even more. How cool is that? But Jason, make sure this discontentment isn't God wanting you to give your time/love to Him first, then to others. Otherwise, you will go from one volunteer job to another hoping that longing would be satisified and you would feel better about yourself. But, I'm sure you've already thought of that.

Man, I'm a hypocrite. All these thoughts but no action. I need to go look in a mirror. I seemed to have forgotten what I look like. (James 1:23)