What Coupon will you give to God this Year???

Our family has a few unique traditions that we do for Christmas. One of those is our "Christmas Stocking Coupons."  It is one of the most anticipated part of our Christmas day for the sweet savages. Let me explain:  Around December 1st, we hang up 11 stockings along our stairway. Everyone works for the next 25 days to create at least one coupon for each member of the family....sometimes more (or many more) than one.  The coupons are gifts or acts of service for each other.The younger kids love to make coupons that say things like, "I will play any game with you 10 times"  or "I will go on a hike with you in the woods."  Older kids/parents give coupons for outings to lunch, or bowling, or doing chores for them or a day off math.  Sometimes a coupon to buy gum or ice cream etc.

As I was filling in my coupons for the rest of the family this year, I was stuck on what to write on Chris'. He likes quality time...it crossed my mind to just give him a blank coupon since I wasn't coming up with anything....but then I thought of a fun date I could take him on. As I was pondering though, the thought struck me....if I were making a coupon for God, what would I write?  Would I try to think of a way on my own that would please Him, but keep it on my terms, or would I be willing to give him a blank coupon that allowed Him to fill in the blanks however He wanted to?  Was I willing to trust Him to do that in my life?

What if He wrote something in the blanks that I didn't want to do? Something I didn't want to give up? Something that I didn't want to stop doing?  Pondering...

It is much easier to decide how I want to serve the Lord...it's less scary, and leaves less of a chance of Him asking me to do something outside my comfort zone, isn't it?  I was reminded of a challenging book I read a while back called Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Basically, fans are people who like to be called a Christian.  They like to say all the right things. They think that most of Christianity is a good thing, but when it comes down to it, they are not truly followers. They want to do what they want to do and are only willing to follow Christ so long as it doesn't cost them too much or make them uncomfortable. A true FOLLOWER of Christ is willing to follow and obey God regardless of what it costs them.

So...back to coupons. I think that what coupon you are willing to give to God reveals if you have the heart of a fan or a follower. Are you willing to give God a blank coupon? What if He called you to do something really hard? Something like, sell your house and move to Nigeria? Something like spending time in a prison ministry? How about quit buying all the "stuff" you think you need and instead sponsoring one or ten Compassion children? Or how about something REALLY hard like stop yelling at your kids, truly, unselfishly loving your husband, stop gossiping, reading the Bible every single day?  Are you living for yourself or for God?

Luke 14:33 says, "...those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."

and Matthew 7: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it...  Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ "

Those are some pretty sobering verses. Our culture is FULL of fans of Christ. Fans who write their own coupons for God. These verses are talking about FOLLOWERS of Christ. Those who are willing to say "Yes, Lord," even before He asks. You don't care what it is, your answer is always, "Yes!"   because you are a true follower.  I have heard it called the "predetermined YES!"  

If I read Scripture correctly, you cannot be a Fan and be a true Christ follower. That would be "luke-warm" which Revelation clearly says that the lukewarm will be spit out of God's mouth. 

If you aren't a follower. If you aren't willing to give God a blank coupon with your life to do whatever. Then may I challenge you to truly assess if you are a genuine Christian? A Christian is a Christ FOLLOWER.  Don't be one of the many who walk through the wide gate that Matthew talks about thinking you're okay, only to find out that you succeeded in all the wrong things, and God says in the end, "I never knew you."

I challenge you to make up a coupon for God and sit there and decide if you can give it to God blank. If there are things you don't want Him to mess with, then may I encourage you to spend 2015 seeking what it means to be a sold-out true follower of Christ? May 2015 be the year that you were never the same again!