Yet how committed are we to God?
First it is a personal decision between us and Him.
Second, once the decision is made, others need to know.
(What IS the point of getting married if you don't tell everyone and they all still think you're single?
Part of the purpose and intent is so that they know your status has changed and so likely will some of your priorities.)
Yet how committed are we to God?
Viewing it as an obligation doesn't work (would you want someone to spend time with YOU out of obligation?) Examples are:
My quiet time has to be for at least 30 min every morning
My quiet time has to be in a certain place
I have to read an entire chapter in the bible everyday
God doesn't need you to prove anything. He's not about rules, he's about relationship.
(Any rules in place are meant to show our imperfection and our need for Him and to draw us to Him.)
Do you struggle to walk with Him daily?
Try some ideas from the following list:
- Read a few lines of scripture, not an entire chapter
- Unless you get sucked in by the intrigue...
- Choose different resources
- Bible
- Devotional Booklet
- A Book about God
- Read in different locations:
- In you car before you go in to work
- On the sofa before you run out the door
- Outside on a bench during lunch or a break
- Make good use of those "smoke breaks"
- Give Him 30 seconds to 5 minutes of FOCUSED time
- Don't YOU like to be focused on?
- Listen to preachers in the car and THINK about what's being said (meditate on the Word)
- Sit and talk with someone else about God (He LOVES it when we talk about Him)
- Take time to notice the beauty around you for He likes to romance us through beauty
Acknowledge Him through out the day
- Thank Him for walking with you
- Thank Him for green lights on the way to work
- Thank Him for red lights that make you slow down
- Thank Him for a functioning car
- Or for bus fare
- Thank Him for the train ride where you have down time to focus on Him
- Thank Him for the traffic that slows you down and causes you to have more time to listen to some uplifting praise music to refocus on Him instead of your circumstances
- Thank Him AGAIN for your car
- Talk to Him about decisions throughout the day
- Ask him for wisdom and discernment during your day
- Ask him for patience
- Ask him for joy
- Ask him to help you find the best in those who annoy you most
- Ask him to help you remember that you aren't judge and jury and that you don't deserve compassion either
- Thank Him for walking with you moment to moment
- Thank Him for caring and for being with you
- Thank Him for your job
- Thank Him for your kids
- Thank Him for your health and your ability to get out of bed in the morning
- If you can't get out of bed, thank Him for the breath in your lungs for if you are here, you still have purpose
- Thank him for your family
- Thank him for your friends
- Thank Him for the roof over your head, for electricity, for your cell phone ;)
Get the point?
This list is different for everyone, but it is a simple way to keep God present in your moment-to-moment everyday. If you find that you get caught up in your busyness and forget to include Him, then put up sticky notes, on your desk, fridge, bathroom mirror, or in your Outlook calendar to remind you to include Him.
This is walking with God. A relationship should be something that is ongoing. While the dictionary does not specify the following, for it to grow, it shouldn't be sporadic or limited to a couple times a week.
If I had a boyfriend who only talked to me once a week, did not share intimate details about the small things that concern him in his life and if he didn't go out of his way to get to know ME, I would not feel like we were in a "relationship".
So what is God to think?
Does going to church make us committed? Maybe to other humans (if that's who we want to please), but they don't know what's in our heart. Only God knows if we are truly there to worship or if we are just going through the motions and trying to stay awake.
Does the bumper sticker, pious verbage, eloquent prayer, attendance every time the doors are open, serving in every capacity possible...
Do these make us committed?
Our committment to God is first through the heart. And God knows our heart even better than we do. Next as he fills His God-shaped hole in our heart, His love begins to be reflected more and more through our actions. But it requires a consistent relationship that includes Him in our day-to-day.
Embrace the committment. Acknowledge His presence as He is always there waiting. It just might be the most rewarding relationship of your life. ;)
He is the one thing that will NEVER change - despite the world that changes around us.
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