A Summer Contemplation

This summer I have been attending a Bible study with my church here in West Lafayette.  The past couple of weeks we have spent time individually in prayer after the lesson, rather than breaking into small groups.  I have found this time to be invaluable.  While I do try to take time to be in silence with God all year round, the academic year can quickly become overwhelming and rushed, causing my devotional time to become a 5 minute Bible reading with a brief breath prayer before crashing into bed for a few hours in anticipation of an early morning class the next day.  Taking my own time to be with God this summer and this time at Bible study have been great reminders of how important this time is for me.

Something that I've been thinking about for the past couple of months was also touched on in Bible study this Thursday.

I've lived a very large portion of my life like a long checklist to be a 'good' Christian.

Go to church every Sunday: Check.
Go on a mission trip over a school break: Check.
Read the Bible each day: Check.
Volunteer regularly: Check.
Love others: Check.
Tell people you'll pray for them with a reassuring pat on the back: Check.
Participate in a community group: Check.

The more time I spend each day with God, the more I am able to embrace the idea that this has to be about following God with my whole heart and not about dragging my feet to complete the little boxes next to my checklist to be a good churchy girl.  While this is something that I've known for a very long time, this is something that I struggle to live out.  I like checklists and rules.  I have always been pretty good at following them.  They make sense to me.

But when I look at the truth written in the Bible, my salvation doesn't depend on me.  No matter how many of the little check boxes I complete, I will not go to heaven without the grace and forgiveness of God through the blood of Jesus.  Nothing that I do will change that.

Jesus loves me in my brokenness, not because of anything I've done but because of his grace.  I go to church not because I need to follow a sequence of rules but because I have a God given desire to worship God and be in his presence.  The Christian fellowship I experience at church and in a community group gives me an opportunity to experience relationship---an integral part of ministry.  Volunteering allows me to spread the love of Jesus, not because it's something that I'm supposed to do, but because I should be so filled with excitement and joy about Jesus' love that I CAN'T contain it.  I should read the Bible not because it's an obligation, but because I'm hungry to grow and learn about God in new ways.  I should pray for others because it is an act of Christ's love for them.

My life can't be a list of rules or a checklist of things to do.  It must be more than that.  And with God's grace and the guidance of the God-loving people that surround me, that is what my life is becoming.

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo,

Jo