When I went to the library a few weeks ago, I got a series out by Sandra Byrd. I'm not sure if the series has a name, but the first book is Let Them Eat Cake and I am in the process of reading Bon Appetit. In my down time today, I picked it up to read a chapter and found this quote:
... I prayed and read John 7 & 8. I grinned. Another food analogy.
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink."
I prayed out loud, conversationally, as I got ready for work. "So, Lord, is it because I've never really let myself get parched, always able to satisfy myself with the good gifts You'd given me, that I haven't had a thirst for You?
It occurred to me that... I included God when it was convenient...
And then later in the book:
... he said, "I realized I could fill myself with good things... but the only thing that took away my pain was my faith..."
I smiled... "Until you were hungry, you had not developed the need."
This blew my mind. It's something I've heard and thought about time and time again. I've probably even blogged about it. But, today - this really struck something deep within me.
This is true of me all too often. I fill my life with so many things, people, activities, etc. that I leave no real time with God. Or, when I leave time for Him, it's hurried or I am distracted and unable to concentrate. I think, in our society and culture, it's easy to do this. We fill our lives to the brim and leave ourselves not truly needing God. And, I k know I'm not alone. I fill my life with all of these good things. These things aren't bad, but when they take the place of my need for God - that's not a good thing. Yes, God has chosen to give me these blessings. But, would I still be ok if they were all gone? Would my faith disappear as well? I hope not.
My alone time has given me a lot of time to think. This is something I am working on, but I think I am "getting there" or, at the very least, improving. This is something I need to work on and something I will keep thinking about.
I'm sorry if this seems scattered - when I can think of more to expound on, I will. This just really made me curious and really convicted me, I wanted to bring it up.
4 comments:
Wow! Great thoughts, Andi! I wish I had been seeking God as wholeheartedly as you were this early in my marriage. Sadly, I was not. Great food for thought. I think of Job when he lost everything (his kids...all of them...that makes me shudder) and still refused to curse God and said, "Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him." Only by God's grace could I do that.
I do the same thing, Andi... fill my life with other things and then I am too full with no room for God. CS Lewis wrote a lot about this... from Weight of Glory-
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
The book is on google here-
http://books.google.com/books?id=H4m1VKnO7VYC&dq=holiday+at+the+sea+cs+lewis&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=emadS9D7Hd358QbQ_JS8Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12&ved=0CDMQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Don't you love when you have a mind-blowing experience like that??!! He is working!
I heard the Sandray Byrd series is quite good, you will have to let us know what you think when you finish the books!
your blogpost reminds me of the Bible study that I'm doing now...."having a Mary heart in a Martha world." in one of the chapters, the author asks us to write down everything that we do in a month....every single activity whether it be for pleasure, church, volunteering, etc. And then rank them in order of importance from 1 to 4. and then the author challenges us to get rid of all the 4's. this is tough!! thanks for being a reminder to me to make my time with Jesus my first priority!
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