It’s Over

As of this morning my 40 days is over. So, don’t bother me I have TV to watch. Just kidding, sort of.

So, what has this time taught me? Well, I can honestly say that I am not the same person I was 6 weeks ago. I have found that I actually look forward to study time. I crave bible study. I spend much of my time thinking of what I have read and wondering what God will reveal to me in the next session. God has revealed many things about myself and my ministry. Some of these things have not been easy for me. Of course when we are given a brief glimpse of ourselves from a Godly perspective, it often isn’t going to be easy. Did God answer all of my questions? Not exactly. I still am not sure what God has planned for me, but what I do know is that I am not ready for the next step and when I am ready he will make the path clear. So, till then I will continue to study and prepare myself. Now that doesn’t mean that I will be just sitting around and waiting. There are a number of things I will be doing in the mean time. Am I branching out on my own? No, I don’t think so. While God has not revealed the ultimate plan for me, he has revealed some areas of service that I will be moving towards. Maybe those areas are the next step, or perhaps they will lead to the next step. Only God knows for certain, but I know that he does not intend for me to sit around growing mold while I wait for a Saul type experience, or for Moses’ burning bush. While God can still use these kinds of things and occasionally does use miraculous happenings to communicate to us, chances are this is not going to be how he chooses to direct me. So, I will serve and I will watch. Watch for other opportunities to serve, watch for God’s direction and watch for opportunities to minster to those around me.

I had some one ask me this week if I thought I would be returning to my old ways. I thought about it for a brief moment, and you know I don’t think I will be. I don’t mean that I will never watch TV or surf the net again, but what I do mean is that I will not be coming home from work and instantly turning on the TV only to spend the next 6 hours or more sitting there in front of the TV. I have really come to enjoy the time I spend reading, and studying when I get home from work. What better way to wind down from the day then to spend some time in the word.

So, I hope that during my 40 days that I have been able to inspire some others. If you have never taken the time to look around you and identify your distractions I challenge you to do so. Take a sheet of paper and spend some time thinking of all the things you do that prevent you from spending time in study or in prayer. As you identify these things, write them down. Determine which of these items can be removed from your life in order to make time for God. Then determine which ones could be minimized. Are you spending 6 hours a day watching television as I was, if those there is an easy one to minimize. Then look at what is left and think of how those things that can not be removed from your life, such as work, can be done for the glory of God. I read some thing that Rick Warren wrote that really struck me. While discussing worship in “The Purpose Driven Life” Warren said, “If it is offered to God in spirit and in truth, it is an act of worship.” What he is saying is that anything we do can be an act of worship if we offer it to God “in spirit and in truth.” This is where those things that can not be removed from our lists come in. 1 Corinthians 10:31(KJV) says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all for the Glory of God.” Colossians 3:23 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” So, even the things that can not be removed from your list can still be done for the glory of God. In fact the Bible tells us that we should do everything as if we were doing it for Jesus. When you are done marking things off your list, minimizing others and thinking of how you can do others for the glory of God, keep that list around come back to it every now and then and see if you are still be true to the plan you made to spend more time with God. Thank is my challenge to you this time, find what is distracting you from God and do something about it.

This entry was posted on April 5, 2008 at 07:35 and is filed under Thoughts on Things. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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