I have these two words written on a card and stuck on my visor: compel or repel, and this morning as I drove my kids to school my daughter asked me why...

I told her they are there to remind me every morning that living my faith out is a choice, and that my choices might affect how someone sees if I truly live out what I say I believe. Then I asked my kids this question - what does your faith do? Well, that got me thinking...

What matters most? What are your priorities? I all too often get confused between what I believe the "best" way to get something done is and really the "right" way...let me explain a little.

When I believe (key word here) I know what is best I automatically jump to the fact that is must also be the "right" way too! Anyone else? Come on...I know I am not alone here, work with me. This in simple terms is pride. Pride says "I know best"...Pride then says "Therefore I am right". And guess what...we do this with our faith and our Christianity as well.

I serve in a ministry...I tithe...I read the Bible...I go to a Small Group...I - I - I. "I" seems to be the common word here, and although all of these things are a healthy part of a Christian's walk of faith...they are not the point...Jesus is the point. In John's Gospel (Ch.14) Jesus explains He is about to leave and that He is going to go and prepare a place for them in His Father's house, and that they know the way. Confused they spoke out, and Thomas stated that they don't even know where Jesus was going, let alone how to get there!. But then Jesus answered,

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Simple...wherever Jesus was going they could go because they knew Him...

It is Him that is the way, not my best way to Jesus, or my best way to present Him, or even my best way to explain Him...just Him, period. It is all about Jesus, no more no less...and THAT is enough. We get so distracted by what we believe the best way to be Christian we lose what is right. Here is the check-up question you can ask to see if you got the right way - "Is what I am about to do, or say, or participate in, or avoid, or walk by, reflect my "belief" in Jesus?" In other words - When I feel I have done enough or said enough or taken enough I can compare it to the model of Christianity - Jesus, and see how it stands up to the "enough" He gave once for all. OUCH...that is an impossible standard...yes it is. But Jesus makes the impossible possible.

I don't know about you, but if I would consider what has been given to me before I act or react I would act and react a little differently sometime...and maybe compel people to take another or maybe a deeper look at this Jesus fellow that I claim to follow...You then become a light for Him, a beacon into darkness.