Last Friday, my kids and I headed to Chick-fil-a to meet friends for lunch. While we were there, I saw the owner and introduced my kids to the man who had been my very first boss. He kindly offered to get ice cream for the kids. While he was gone, Nate looked up at me and asked, “Mommy, does he know Jesus?” I had talked with the owner during my years of working and knew that he did believe in Christ, so I replied, “Yeah, buddy. He does know Jesus – but you can ask him when he comes back.”

When the owner came back, Nate looked him square in the face and asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” He replied that he did, then he and Nate had a good little chat about it. As we were leaving, I said, “Nate I’m so glad you’re concerned about others and whether they believe in Jesus.”
He said, “Well, I knew that you used to work with him and that your parents taught you about God, so I thought you must have told him about Jesus.”

It is right for my children to assume that I talk with other people about Jesus. After all, I’m the one telling them that knowing Jesus is the most important thing in the world. It’s right for them to assume that, but oh man, does it ever put pressure (a good pressure!) on me as their Mama.

Later that afternoon, I read this quotation:

“The motto of all true servants of God must be,
‘We preach Christ, and him crucified.’
No Christ in your sermon, sir?
Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.”
– Charles Spurgeon –

And I was freshly struck by this truth:

Unless Christ is in all the things I do, they’re not worth doing.

Unless Christ is in my conversations, thoughts, work, parenting, marriage, desires, relationships, and goals, these things are not worth pursuing.

No Christ in my conversations?
Then stop talking until I have someone worth talking about.

No Christ in my goals?
Then stop making lifeless goals that aren’t fueled by a love for Jesus.

No Christ in my parenting?
Then stop parenting until I can lead my children to Him.

The solution is not to hang up my “Mom hat,” stop making goals or quit conversing with others.
The solution is to pursue Christ so intensely that He’s in everything I do, whether it’s my innermost thought known only by God or an action seen by many.

Dear God, help me to pursue you first, pursue you most, and pursue you longest.

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