'The Spiritually Lazy Saint'
Normally I struggle with the book "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. Its considered a favorite by many, but I've always found it too hard to understand. Then tonight I opened it up to today's section, and it made sense.
The title was "The Spiritually Lazy Saint". Pretty exciting huh? I read it, just expecting to get nothing out of it like usual, basically reading it just because I figured I was supposed to. But as I starting reading it, I noticed Ozzy (yeah I called him that so what?) starting describing someone like me. Not that I'm a saint (he just uses that word in place of 'Christian') but I was the spiritually lazy one.
Chambers described spiritually lazy as someone who "wants to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world." That pretty much described me perfectly. I don't want to do anything that might make me uncomfortable, I just want everything to be calm and for me to be happy.
Many people think that's how the Christian life is supposed to be. Everything's just peaceful and we go around smiling at each other and saying "God bless" a lot. Jesus did no such thing. Would someone who was the head of a "everybody's happy" organization be crucified? No. He preached a much bolder message. So to be a Christian and just be quiet and peaceful all the time is being "spiritually lazy". That's where it got to me.
He talks about how many of us just go to God when we're depressed or confused. I know I do. I "use God only for the sake of getting peace or joy". I just want that joy that comes from Him, but don't want him to challenge me. I want things to be peaceful and comfortable. I don't want to do anything outside of that comfort range.
Basically I realized that I claim to spend time with God, but its only for that "spiritual high". I only want to hear the "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" part and not the "if you love me, you will obey what I command" part. You can't have one without the other though.
So today I've decided to finally drop all the spiritual laziness crap and finally start listening to God. Not just go and get my batteries charged in a way, but to allow him to change me, and to glorify him. It'll be weird in some ways, challenging in other, but definitly for the good. I can't wait to see what's in store.
The title was "The Spiritually Lazy Saint". Pretty exciting huh? I read it, just expecting to get nothing out of it like usual, basically reading it just because I figured I was supposed to. But as I starting reading it, I noticed Ozzy (yeah I called him that so what?) starting describing someone like me. Not that I'm a saint (he just uses that word in place of 'Christian') but I was the spiritually lazy one.
Chambers described spiritually lazy as someone who "wants to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world." That pretty much described me perfectly. I don't want to do anything that might make me uncomfortable, I just want everything to be calm and for me to be happy.
Many people think that's how the Christian life is supposed to be. Everything's just peaceful and we go around smiling at each other and saying "God bless" a lot. Jesus did no such thing. Would someone who was the head of a "everybody's happy" organization be crucified? No. He preached a much bolder message. So to be a Christian and just be quiet and peaceful all the time is being "spiritually lazy". That's where it got to me.
He talks about how many of us just go to God when we're depressed or confused. I know I do. I "use God only for the sake of getting peace or joy". I just want that joy that comes from Him, but don't want him to challenge me. I want things to be peaceful and comfortable. I don't want to do anything outside of that comfort range.
Basically I realized that I claim to spend time with God, but its only for that "spiritual high". I only want to hear the "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" part and not the "if you love me, you will obey what I command" part. You can't have one without the other though.
So today I've decided to finally drop all the spiritual laziness crap and finally start listening to God. Not just go and get my batteries charged in a way, but to allow him to change me, and to glorify him. It'll be weird in some ways, challenging in other, but definitly for the good. I can't wait to see what's in store.