Loving God More

For a long time I attended churches that believed they had to tell everyone what to do: read your Bible more, pray more, go to church . . . But what I heard and what I saw bothered me. The focus was on doing. If a person came in jeans, or shorts people scowled and said things like, "You should wear a dress to church." When a dress was worn they said, "Oh, that dress is too short." No matter what was worn there was some critical statement that was said.

There was a time when I always dressed up for church because that's what I was taught to do. But years of negativity caused me not to care. I came to church in jeans too exhausted to dress in fancy clothes. In my heart I knew that it was the spiritual food I needed and if it meant attending church in jeans than I'd do it as there was no energy left in my body to wear dress clothes. After so many years of trials and difficulties I was simply too exhausted to care what anybody thought.

In my heart I knew the truth that my hexagonal mind has seen for years. But explaining this concept to square-pegged minds who thought only inside the box was difficult work. I have always said that if we have a relationship with God and love Him, all the areas of our life will fall into place. If we don't love Him or have a relationship with Him, then it is drudgery to read our Bibles, keep the Sabbath, pray and attend church. We can't do these things because we have to, that is legalism. And in the same token we can't force someone to do these things, that is abuse. The solution is that we must lean into the God and have a relationship with Him that is real and vibrant. When a person has a true friendship with Him then all the areas of their spiritual life will fall into place. They will want to study their Bible, pray and attend church. It all starts with spending time with God and getting to know Him personally.

May we each step out of bed each day seeking to let God be part of our lives. My prayer is that each of us will carve out time somewhere in our day to have a quiet time with God where we pray and listen to Him. It is this special time that He is aching to have with us each and every day. When we do this He will fill us full of His love. It is then that everything in our life will begin to fall into place. May we all be people who love God more!