You.

I received a small pillow as a gift a few years ago. It's one of those decorative things with a cute little needlepoint like quote that reads, my goal in life is to be the kind of person that my dog thinks I am. Now let me be clear. My dog thinks I'm awesome. He sleeps in my chair because it's my chair. He wants to be with me through the night. He can't wait for me to come home from wherever I've been. And when I walk in the door, even after being gone to the store for just five minutes, he wags his entire body because he cannot contain his joy. He knows that his master will feed him, give him water, play ball with him, help him chase squirrels and give him treats for no special reason. He knows that he is loved. Simply put, my dog thinks that I am all that is good and right in the world. How noble to be the kind of person your dog thinks you are. The apostle Paul wrote, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians four, verse one. God has called us to do what is right and to live a life that honors him. We should be worthy of that calling, not in the sense that we are trying to be good enough or trying to earn our reward to heaven, but in the sense that we are so grateful for what God has done for us through Christ that we are motivated to do and say everything possible to show the Lord and the entire watching world that honoring him is our greatest joy and desire. We should be worthy of that calling. But are we? When people look at us and see what we do and how we treat others and hear the things we say? Does what they see and hear cause them to say, this person really takes his or her relationship with the Lord seriously? More important, does what we do and say cause God to smile and say, this person thinks I'm awesome? It is a noble goal to be the person that your dog thinks you to be. It is even more noble to be worthy of the calling that we have received from the Lord.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to [email protected] have a great day and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.