Wake Up, Look Up

[Music]

hello everyone thanks for listening to

wake up lookup a podcast where we

connect events happening in real time to

the Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zach

wrock and in today's episode we're

asking the question do you need a doge

uh Doge has been in the headlines lately

a lot you might say it's the only thing

that's been in the headlines Doge by the

way do stands for Department of

government efficiency it's the new

organization that President Trump has

launched led by Elon Musk looking at

waste and inefficiency in the government

and how to cut it and boy have they been

cutting as of the time of this recording

85 contracts have been terminated for

the federal government resulting in a $1

billion cut to the budget and that

sounds staggering except for uh that is

only 25% of their daily goal that's

right doge is setting out to cut 4

billion a day out of the federal budget

which they hope will result in a year

total of one

trillion being cut from the federal

budget as you might imagine this is

causing a lot of angst mean some people

love it there some people feel like the

government has been wasting money for a

long time and it's about time someone

held them accountable other people are

pointing to to meaningful programs or

projects that are being cut that we

might regret cutting one day I'll let

you figure out where you stand with the

government entity Doge it feels Beyond

uh my expertise but it does have me

thinking a lot about

evaluation and here's the thing I think

most Christians need to hear uh we need

our own version of Doge what I what I

mean by that is that the Bible has a lot

to say about personal evaluation about

undergoing your own kind of efficiency

study to ask am I living the life that

I'm supposed to live am I living the

life that I want to live I I think for

example of Hebrews 12 where the writer

says let us lay aside the sin and the

distractions that get in the way of what

we're doing but that makes me ask when's

the last time I actually sat down took a

look at my life my calendar my budget my

mental and emotional state and said what

is the sin and what are the distractions

that are getting in the way because my

life is a lot like the federal

government left unchecked I just keep

adding things left unquestioned I just

keep experiencing drift and waste I'm in

need of renewal I'm in need of looking

and taking stock and eliminating the

things that shouldn't be there and

eliminating the things that get in the

way of Jesus after all the psalmist will

pray in Psalm 51 create in me a clean

heart and renew a spirit within me that

that sense of renewal is true life has a

way of drifting me away from God and it

takes a pretty meaningful process of

examination to send me back it's the

very process Paul had in mind in Romans

12 when he says to be transformed by the

renewal of your mind well what do I need

a renewal because my mind tends to move

me away from God not towards him and the

Bible does tell me that one day I am GI

going to give an account of my life to

God in Matthew 25 Jesus tells us that

we'll be divided into the sheep and the

goats the Sheep God's people are going

to be the ones who not only confess

faith in Jesus but that faith in Jesus

led to them doing the things Jesus

called them to do to care for the sick

to care for the poor to care for those

in prison to take care of widows and

orphans and on and on all this to say

what would it look like for you and I to

set some time aside to undergo a

personal kind of Doge a department of

Life efficiency to ask ourselves whether

the rhythms of our lives are taking us

where we want to go whether they're

leading us ultimately to God I think

sometimes we don't want to do that kind

of evaluation because we're worried

about what we might find we might we

might be not as far along as we wish we

were but of course I want to remind you

that where sin abounds Grace abounds all

the more when we go to God with lives of

drift lives of excess lives of waste we

will find a God who is merciful and kind

and forgiving but we'll also find a God

who wants to make a few Cuts there is no

reason our lives can't be the kingdom

advancing Kingdom moving God s saturated

Holy Spirit experiencing kind of lives

that we want them to be but they won't

get there by accident so this weekend

find some time to undergo your own

review and eliminate the things that are

getting in the way of you following

Jesus hey thanks so much for watching

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