Our First Love

I want to encourage you today to continue your habit of meeting with God through His word.

In small group last night we talked about keeping God our first love. It is so often my pride that distracts me into believing that my way might be better after all! Then I go ahead and try to merge the two masters thereby creating a life that is culturally acceptable and religiously acceptable .

Using advent as an example; I am on board with Dave on the advent conspiracy thing. We have been working on this for several years and my heart is softening towards it. Sometimes however, I tend to go overboard on the extremes. Things like baking seem just too much. If the Hallmark moment isn't what I am striving for then why do I need baking and decorations. They are so much work and make you wish for all the other things attached. I think that my self control issues cause me to sometimes have to be an all or nothing sort of person. Although it is sometimes necessary to give up something in its entirety so that it does not consume you - like an addiction, this all or nothing is not always the answer. Apply it to other situations and you are just left missing something very important. Another example could be working outside the home while nurturing a vibrant faith in God. If I would say that it is only possible to do that while at home during down time - while then likely a God relationship wouldn't happen. It would be sporadic and spotty at best and non existent at worst.

In reading Zechariah this week, I had a fresh wind blow through me. It came through two passages. One is very familiar to all of us and is from Zechariah 4:6;

Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.

There is so much I try to do on my own. I am blessed with great resources and determination and I allow that to trap me into believing that I can accomplish most things on my own. John 15:5 is clear to say that "apart from [God] we can do nothing." God was promising to Zechariah in his time as well as to us in our time that He will make a difference in the present situations as well as the future. No amount of our might or power can save a situation without the Spirit of the Lord.

In order for this God-difference to be clear in my life though I cannot accept the status quo on everything that surrounds me. So although our culture is screaming for luxury, amazing electronics, and romantic getaways to fulfill the desires of our hearts this Christmas season and although I worry about how I will help my kids through this schizophrenic season, I know that if I do accept the cultural answer that I am believing in a lesser god with lesser reward. Zech. 5:1-4 is clear to announce that if we want God as our first love we need to welcome God's way for us and cling to Him as our only Hope.

It is times like these that I need to restate my pledge of faith to God, keep submitting to the authority of God for all these issues is critical and continue fighting with the Word of God as my sword, believing it is alive and active in me.