Have you ever fallen into one of those ruts where you just can't seem to get things done. There is just so much to do and, somehow, your motivation just isn't there. You just have to get it done. There is no real pleasure in what you are doing, it just has to be done.
This is hard for us, in the modern world, because there are so many options. We can find another way to do something (eating out rather than cooking), or we can just leave something undone (so the house is a mess, no one is coming over anyway). We don't take a lot of pleasure or pride in getting things done. Our pleasure and our pride is in doing what we want to do.
This is a very unfortunate reality in our modern world. We really just want to do what we want to do. We want things to be what we want them to be, without actually making them be anything at all. We want what we want. But we don't want to make what we want.
What do you want out of your spiritual life? Too often, we hear people whose wants are all defined by what people can do for them. I remember a man telling me, years ago, that he could not attend a particular church because it was "hard to worship if the music was not really well done." He said it without any sense of how serious a confession of failure he was making. He thought he was complaining about the church, but he was confessing about himself. He cannot worship the God of the Universe, Creator of all things, unless he has professional music. Amazing.
Your spiritual life is your spiritual life. It is not your pastor's life or your music minister's life or your Sunday School teachers's life, it is your life. The word is available on your desk. Prayer is available at all times. Books and videos and recordings abound.
If you want a stronger spiritual life, then get one. Do not wait for someone to hand it to you.
This is hard for us, in the modern world, because there are so many options. We can find another way to do something (eating out rather than cooking), or we can just leave something undone (so the house is a mess, no one is coming over anyway). We don't take a lot of pleasure or pride in getting things done. Our pleasure and our pride is in doing what we want to do.
This is a very unfortunate reality in our modern world. We really just want to do what we want to do. We want things to be what we want them to be, without actually making them be anything at all. We want what we want. But we don't want to make what we want.
What do you want out of your spiritual life? Too often, we hear people whose wants are all defined by what people can do for them. I remember a man telling me, years ago, that he could not attend a particular church because it was "hard to worship if the music was not really well done." He said it without any sense of how serious a confession of failure he was making. He thought he was complaining about the church, but he was confessing about himself. He cannot worship the God of the Universe, Creator of all things, unless he has professional music. Amazing.
Your spiritual life is your spiritual life. It is not your pastor's life or your music minister's life or your Sunday School teachers's life, it is your life. The word is available on your desk. Prayer is available at all times. Books and videos and recordings abound.
If you want a stronger spiritual life, then get one. Do not wait for someone to hand it to you.