Dubious Honors

My senior year one of the newspapers (which was really a tabloid) in Kiev started showing up regularly on the tables of McDonald's for our weekly Sunday afternoon meals. Almost every week we would come in and see the new copy of BLIK waiting for us to read and laugh at. They had interesting articles about love, fame and money all of which were very pertinent to our lives :) Our favorite section of the paper, however, was the horoscope. I would go around the table and read each person's horoscope in Russian and then we would try to decipher what we could from it. They were always very deep, telling us that it was a good week for love or that we had good things coming to us.
I was reminded of this weekly ritual when I picked up the C-ville today and turned to the "Living Free Will Astrology" section with the horoscopes. Although, I don't believe in horoscopes I thought that this week's for Leo was quite insightful. It reads:

Would you be delighted if I arranged to get an offshore oil-drilling rig named after you? Probably not. Would you celebrate if you won a prestigious all-expenses paid vacation to the hottest war zones in Afghanistan? I doubt it. So don't accept dubious honors and gifts like those, Leo. Be clear that you're not interested in ego stoke that are irrelevant to your long-term dreams. If you hope to get the prize you're aiming for, you will have to say a definitive no to supposedly good things that you don't really want. 

What a penetrating little post. It's so true that on a daily basis we are giving up our dreams or our ultimate goals for minor and fleeting recognition. It makes me think about the number of times I have let my beliefs get pushed to the back burner because there was something seemingly better coming my way.

It's also fascinating to note how this lines up with what the Lord has been showing me recently through his word. Last night at my RUF Bible Study we studied Romans 3:20-31. In this passage Paul is talking about how we are no longer under the law because Jesus Christ came to abolish it. He emphasizes living by faith and creating new standards for ourselves based on the grace of God manifested through Jesus. From this sprung the discussion of the standards that we are trying to live by. Obviously UVA has a lot of explicit standards to hold to and some unspoken ones that are at times just as powerful. Isn't it true that a lot of the time I am still trying to live up to the standards of UVA and simultaneously be sold out for Jesus Christ? But everything that I strive for that does not point to the Lord and his will in my life is fleeting and silly. Me striving for personal recognition and glory here at the University and elsewhere is like winning a luxury vacation to heavy war zones in Afghanistan- not that great.

So we need to learn to say no to those things that lead us away from the Lord and the ultimate prize of salvation. My prayer would be that everyday we would be lead by the Holy Spirit to invest in things for the glory of God's kingdom. When we truly live by faith in the redeeming and righteous power of God then we can learn to live with an eternal perspective. That perspective can lead us to be focused on the righteousness that the Lord calls us to and the eternity that He offers. So keep your eye on the prize.