My wife and I are not particularly great at keeping up with the chores in our house. Our main motivation to clean the house, is in response to people coming over. Luckily we have people come over weekly so the house never gets insanely bad but there have been many times when we have run out of most of our clothes and dishes. Sometimes our dirty house can be blamed on busy schedules. Sometimes it is due to tiredness and apathy. But mostly it is because we are undisciplined and lazy when it comes to maintaining the cleanliness of our home. As I sit hear planning out the many cleaning tasks I need to accomplish today, the Lord nails me with this question, "Is this the only part of your life that is undisciplined and unkept?" I shutter knowing that much more than my house ends up dirty and cluttered due to laziness and lack of discipline.
There have been so many times that I have made it through the week only doing what was necessary in my prayer and devotion times with God. My Christian walk would best be exemplified by a rider on a fast horse barely hanging on as the world rushes by. I tend to choose TV over reading, music or contemplative silence, and social interaction over intense time alone with God. I often times substitute a Christian book over reading the Bible and many times prefer sermons to having to wrestle with the truth's in scripture myself.
I do rely on the Lord daily and constantly put my hope and security in Him. I know that He is daily guiding my life, my job, my friends, and my opportunities for ministry at church. I wrestle greatly with the scriptures through podcast, music, and books as I seek to walk more like Him. I love talking to God and seek to know more about Him daily but I tend to fail in the task of listening. The problem I most suffer from is inconsistency. One day I will be walking closely in God the whole day and another day I will think very little about Him or my walk.
Have you ever struggled with this? Do you find yourself missing days and maybe even weeks without thinking about or focusing on who God is and how He is working in your life? Have you ever taken a self inventory to find that your heart had been filled with things that do not belong there? Have you ever woke up to the realization that you were far away from the narrow road and in need of much direction to find your way back to the heart of Jesus? If you can answer, "yes" to any of these, then I am here to tell you, your not alone.
I believe even the most fervent Christian struggles and strays occasionally. Even Paul said, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." You are not the first and will not be the last to have times of struggle in your walk with the Lord. I beg you not to believe the lie saying, "you must not be in Christ if you have struggled in your walk or been tempted." The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." Hebrews 12 is also a great chapter to read to help encourage you in your walk with Jesus.
Though our body, minds, and souls are weak at time, there is perfect strength in Jesus. I find that the days I am closest to Him is when I rely on Him fully for all parts of my day. We can walk without God daily but we cannot fully live or reach our full potential without God. He knows what we are capable of and what will bring us the greatest joy in life. He knows how to lift us up and set our feet in right paths that we may live fully in Him and for His kingdom daily. If you ever feel like your heart and your walk are a mess, then submit yourself fully to Jesus and allow Him to pick you up, dust you off, and prepare you for a closer walk with Him today.
Blessings,
Greg
No comments:
Post a Comment