Spiritual lessons from everyday life:

I realize that in my last blog (regrettably over a week ago since my last entry- sorry guys...a very busy time) I mentioned that I would like to blog a little about my studies in II Peter and Jude. Well, I still intend to come back to those themes, but I wanted to share something on a personal level with you. Last week (Friday in particular) is one of the biggest shopping events of the year. The local newspapers are crammed full of flyers which advertise super-bargains for the faithful who will brave the dark and cold and rain to stand outside for hours in line to get an elusive $200 laptop or perhaps a $100 iPod. (Never mind that most of the stores who advertise such specials typically only have a handful of the items in their retail outlets...so the other 5000 people waiting in line don't get the "great deal")


Even though I'm usually a pretty content kind-a-guy, I even found myself salivating over some of the "marked-down" techo-gadgets in the sales papers. I almost had convinced my wife (and myself...an even tougher feat) to wake up with the roosters and go stand in line for the potential deal-of-a-lifetime. Well, Friday morning came...and my desire for sleep conquered my desire to get up and go stand in an eternal line at the local Best Buy. But the story doesn't end there......

Monday evening as I was driving home from work, I began to meditate on the whole Christmas shopping frenzy that we are now in the midst of. Without sounding super-spiritual, I must admit that I believe the Lord spoke to my spirit on the ride home. I began to think of my willingness (and that of doubtless thousands of others on that fateful Friday morning) to wake up at the crack of dawn and stand in line for an item that may or may not have even been in stock by the time you get in the door of the store. The wheels of my mind began to turn, and then I thought of the spiritual neglect and apathy that seems to engulf our culture. I'm always amused (and yet disgusted at the same time) at the myriad of excuses people give why they cannot serve God or at the very least attend the house of God. I often hear how busy people are, or how Sunday is the only day that they can get their rest (I'm a bi-vocational pastor who works 40 hours a week in addition to my pastoral responsibilities...so that argument doesn't get very far with me...but I digress). I hear how family time is at a premium and so there just isn't enough space to do service on behalf of the Lord. And yet......

People are willing to sacrifice their sleep (some malls opened at 1 a.m on Friday morning to accomadate anxious shoppers) in order to do what they felt compelled to do. This post is not intended as a blast against anyone who participated in midnight madness (the retail version...not the college basketball phenomenon). I am readily admitting that I found myself caught up in the whole materialistic aspect of the Christmas season. But how willing am I to wake up before the break of day and enter my personal prayer closet? I was willing to go in search of something with uncertain promises and yet all of the promises of God are "yea and Amen." In the gospels, Jesus makes the statement "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." I've come to the conclusion that .....we do what we want to do. So instead of all the excuses as to why we're not serving God in the manner that He has required...why don't we just admit that our desire for His presence is not on par with our desire for the things of this world? In James it is written "draw nigh to God...He will draw nigh to you." I'm convinced that we have as much or as little of His presence in our lives as we desire. I don't believe that God is witholding His blessing from us (unless we're in willful disobedience of course), but rather that our hunger and thirst for righteousness is not at a place to receive from Him. It seems from my reading of scripture that "hungering" and "thirsting" are prerequisites for receiving the power from on high.

God says that when we seek for Him with all of our hearts....we will find Him. Now I would much rather prefer a sure thing wouldn't you?

Blessings today!
~henry

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