The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. The grass is always greener when and where someone has made the wholehearted commitment to make and take the time to water the lawn and tend to it daily!
More often than not, we human beings seem to expect so much after investing so little. I believe that one area where this conclusion may be easily reached is in the spirituality department of our lives.
It amazes me how many people have become bored with their walk with the Lord. I would venture a guess to say that if your times with God have become nothing more than extended snooze fests that maybe you aren’t engaging as much of your true heart as you should be.
I surely know that God is willing and waiting for you to join in to Him like He has already been pouring into you. Romans 5:5 tells us that God has graciously and abundantly poured out His love into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. The way this scripture is worded in the original language literally means that the Lord is holding nothing back but allows His absolute best to flow freely without any inhibition blocking to the instruments of His that we are.
Paraphrased that verse would read, “God loves us with all of His heart, His soul and His mind and His strength. Isn’t it quite ironic that He has not asked from us something that He wasn’t willing to do first?
God is looking for passion to be in fashion in the way we live. He is searching for some vital signs of life illuminating from us when we attack each and every brand new day that has been given to us as a gift from the Lord on high. He wants us to spill out our good stuff, our best stuff just like He does, holding nothing back for a tomorrow that might never come. If we are caught up in who God is and all that He means to us. our yawns will be kept to a minimum.
I heard a fascinating story this week that makes me want to scream out loud because I don’t understand why church doesn’t rock like a football game at the Linc or a concert at Madison Square Garden. I don’t know why we don’t have the energy to wave towels uncontrollably because nothing against Roy Halladay, but Jesus has pitched a ton more perfect games than he has for us! When is the last time you even worked up a sweat in a sanctuary because you were so lathered up by the love of the Lord?
Anyway, back to the story. It goes that a church was having an air conditioner installed into their sanctuary and the pastor was meeting with the contractor going over the details. The man asked the minister a number of questions about seating capacity, square footage, and usual attendance all the while scribbling tons of notes onto his pad. Then, all of a sudden, in the midst of his calculations, he abruptly crumpled up his paper as the professional obviously became flustered by an apparent mistake he had just made.
“What’s wrong?” asked the pastor. “I was calculating things for a movie theater instead of a church” replied the builder. “Well, what is the difference?” asked the pastor. Wouldn’t they be almost the same?” No, not really” answered the expert. “You see in a theater, with all that is taking place up front on the screen, there are certain biological changes happening in people like their heart rate being elevated and blood pressure increasing and body temperature fluctuating so in other words, there is a greater need for cooling when people get excited and we don’t see the same kind of reactions from crowds when they are just sitting in church.”
And without even realizing it, this contractor portrayed a common view of worship found in way too many individuals. For if you would open your eyes and really get a good look at God in all of His power and glory and holiness and immenseness and utter magnificence and then are able to properly drink in the reality that He longs to run and go and equip and empower you, our places of worship would need turbo air conditioning today and every day.
If you are too busy- you will miss it. If you are not fully engaged with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. it will pass you by. This is no time to be sitting back and taking God for granted. This is a season to be entering into an edge of your seat kind of living. God doesn’t want to be just another kiss on your list, He wants to be “the” kiss and He longs to be “the” one that you can’t live and do without.
Why do relationships falter? Why do we allow the zest to be missing from the beating in our chest whenever we come together? We let what was once our passion to just become a profession, a job- something to do rather than something to cling to. Will you water the grass today? Will you pull the weeds? Will you edge the trimming? Will you make beautiful what was once beautiful and can be beautiful again? Will you enter in to what you can’t just allow to slip away anymore?
Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net
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