However You Slice It

"You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:12 (NASB)

A good friend of mine recently suggested that I begin writing again. Thank you, Terecita.

A different friend and I were talking about spiritual things earlier tonight, and we ended up discussing a wide range of book titles, sermon titles, spiritual mentors and counselors, etc. Whatever we discussed, however, the subject kept coming back to how the author, the preacher, the counselor (if they're worth their salt), all needing to have quality devoted time to God. Then we talked about how the "average" Christian has the same access to the same God that any "big" name has, and how that average Christian is not limited in the things God can do in his or her life. In the kind of fruit they can bear.

I'm real big on the word "fruit" lately after reading Secrets of The Vine by Bruce Wilkinson. I know that Bruce is big on it, consequently, because Jesus was big on it. The New Testament writers are big on it, and the very fruit of Bruce spending time with God was a book about bearing fruit in our lives. (Wordy, I know.) Going back to my earlier conversation with my friend...whatever we discussed it all came down to one question: In the day your given tomorrow (if you are given that gift), will you make time - schedule it to make it happen - for you to get alone with God and have a quality session of prayer and bible reading? Will you make that happen? We talked about how so many of the great books and pastors all say the same thing, just in a different way based on their individual giftedness. What they have in common is that they have learned the discipline. Part of what they've learned is that spending quality time with God is not based on emotion, and it is not a secondary priority. It is their main priority, and they do it whether they feel like doing it or not, because they've learned what the benefits of that kind of life produces. Not only for themselves, but for the people reading and listening to "their" stuff.

Here's the thing, and there's really no way of getting around it, all the good Christian books, and all the good sermons, and all the good counseling a person can get should only be complimentary to the foundation of a life that is built on getting to know God personally through prayer and His word. It is true that He will speak to us through books, sermons, and other media, but He has stated over and over in His word that He wants us to seek Him. He wants us to pant after Him like the deer after the brook. He wants our love relationship with Him to flourish so He can use us, help us, heal us, sustain us, enrich us, forgive us, free us, teach us, and utterly surprise us.

Believer, there is absolutely no reason why you can't be the author of a book God wants to use in people's lives, the preacher of a sermon He wants to carry His message, the neighbor to a hurting soul, the friend or family member to someone who needs hope, and on and on.

As I am getting a little grayer in the beard, I am convinced more and more that God does take time to discipline us for our sin, bless us with His grace, and patiently mold us for His glory. I am also convinced, that we are free to choose a life that is bound to mediocrity at best, if we fail to make seeking Him a habit in our life every day.

Comments

[Terecita]

I'm glad you're back to writing again. I love what you wrote. It is very true. Welcome back to the blog world!