Don’t Be A Pew Sitter
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” -- John 15:4-5
Are you a pew sitter? Do you show up on Sundays and call yourself done when it comes to Jesus? Do you have faith but don’t feel a need to do anything beyond putting a tax deductible check in the offering plate and maybe occasionally helping out with the children’s programs your offspring are involved in?
Receiving the Holy Spirit is just the beginning of our faith journey. Many Christians think it’s the end. They lean on its promise of eternal life without ever growing in faith, without ever showing the world that something significant happened in their hearts.
Most folks who know me have heard me say again and again that it’s important to read the Bible for yourself. The Holy Spirit will reveal things that you’d never learn otherwise. If it’s hard to understand, keep at it. Or get yourself a version you can better understand. But don’t give up. Don’t stop. Do a little each day and let yourself be fed some of that Living Water.
Learn to talk to God. About what, you might ask. About everything and anything. Don’t just run to God with a list of wants and call yourself done. Don’t only cry out to Him when you’re desperate. Share the details of your life with your Holy Father. Tell Him how much you’re enjoying the beautiful day He created. Tell God how much fun you had playing touch football with the neighborhood kids. Tell Him you’re worried about a sick child or that you want to know Him better. Just talk to God. He craves a relationship with you.
Also, make time to be alone with God. We think we can carry on as usual and, really, we can’t. How can you have a conversation with God and really hear what He’s saying when the television is blaring in the background? You can’t. You want God to hear you. So make an effort to hear God.
Be open to where God might be leading you. Sometimes we act like turtles. We’re all bold on the outside until God calls us to do something we’re not quite sure we can do. Then instead of relying on Him and trusting that He’ll teach us all we need to know, we pull our heads -- and faith -- back and refuse to do it. We miss so many blessings when we don’t step out in faith.
We also miss blessings when we refuse to serve others. We make plenty of excuses but, really, we’re the ones who suffer when we refuse to make time to help others. Take a few minutes and call someone who is lonely. Drive an elderly person to a doctor’s appointment. Offer to baby sit for a couple of hours for an overwhelmed young mother. Invite that just divorced neighbor over for a family meal or to a church gathering.
Our faith shouldn’t remain stagnate. It should grow and produce sweet fruit that lets others see and taste the Holy Spirit within us. Don’t limit what God can do through you by refusing to get off the pew.
No comments:
Post a Comment