Just a thought.

I had the privilege of teaching/leading discussion in my Sunday school class this morning. Yes, we still have Sunday school, which I know is kind of "out of style", but honestly, it's the time on Sundays that I learn the most, mainly because it's geared directly to things happening to ME at my point in life. Anyway, we were talking about serving the Lord in our churches and the importance of that ministry. It went well, but it was pretty short (which I have noticed is very common when it's the 1st time you lead a bible study, class, etc.) so we started talking about other things. Eventually, I said something that I felt like God plopped right into my head, which is usually how it works. I said, "It's an awesome step in your spiritual maturity when you realize that people are no longer looking at the things that you aren't doing, but rather the things that you are doing."
Where did that come from?! God, that's where. At this point of my Christian walk, I have realized this statement. It's so true that as we mature as Christ's followers, we have to come to the realization that not committing the "big sins" is just not enough. Not committing adultery or not killing someone just isn't enough...even some non-believers abstain from those things for different reasons! We have to realize that our true witness for our Father are the things that we DO! It's no longer about the don'ts, but it's about the do's! Are we loving people like Christ loves us? Are we building real relationships with them, like Christ does for us? Are we being servants to them, just like Christ is for us? Are we more worried about other people's lives, rather than our own? THOSE are the things that will truly set us apart from other people and will make people wonder what we have dwelling inside of us, that they don't have.
So many times, growing up, we hear all of the things NOT to do...but the things that we are supposed to do sometimes get lost in the shuffle. God doesn't rank sin in our lives, so He tells us not to murder (Exodus 20:13) and He also tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Isn't he just as displeased when we don't do something He tells us to do, as He is when we do something that He tells us not to do?

I Must Pray.

I borrowed "the furious longing of God" by Brennan Manning from my friend Hannah, and let me just say that after reading only 24 pages, I already have many quotes from this book that I will remember for my entire life. The one that really stuck out to me wasn't all that profound or something revolutionary, but just something that I had never actually put together as a tangible thought. Manning said, "In a significant interior development, you will move from I should pray to I must pray."

WHOA. Or at least that was my reaction after reading that sentence! How true is it that for many of us we pray because we should, because we know God wants to hear from us, because we know it pleases Him, or because we want to be a good Christian and talk to our Dad. How many times in my life have I approached praying as something that I must do to get through the day. To be completely honest, there are days when I wake up at 9:06 for a New Testament test at 9:35 and barely have enough time to shoot God a quick prayer to thank Him for the day, tell Him I love Him, and of course ask for a little help on the test. (obviously, that scenario happened this week :/). And I made it through that day. I made it through without ever coming before God without any other distractions and I made it through just fine. But how much better could it have been if I had surrendered that day to God because I knew that was a must.

But there have been times, within the past few months even, where prayer was the ONLY thing that was going to get me through. It was an absolute necessity to hit my knees and cry out to God because He was the only person or thing that was going to provide me with comfort. Those times, as bad as they feel physically, are the most precious times I ever get to spend with my creator. Whenever no one else will even come near helping me as hard as they may try; not my friends, not my family, but only Him..only He could brush off my knees and send me on my way to do His work.

But, isn't that how I should approach each day? Not just getting up and praying because it starts my day off great (which it does), but actually realizing that He is the only reason I'm going to experience that particular day, He is the only thing that is going to get me through that day, and He is my only "MUST" that day. Why do I wait for bad times in my life to approach Him as a must..isn't He my only source of happiness too?