Spiritual House Cleaning

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching myself lately. Reprioritizing my life and putting God back where he should be. I wanted to get to a point in my life where I wanted to read the Bible for me and not because I was supposed to. I wanted to seek wisdom and to serve with a desire that stemmed from knowing that is where I would truly be fulfilled.

Being a Christian my entire life I really only had everyone else’s testimony to go on. I’ve lived a pretty clean life without a past filled with sexual debauchery or a drug addiction. I’ve had my share of problems, but most of them have been manageable and all along I had God as a security blanket. For me I needed some time away from God to fully appreciate him and what serving him really means.

Slowly but surely I’ve been putting my feet on the right track. Reading, listening, praying, seeking… It’s different because I’ve never lost my love or passion for Christ, He’s always been my all in all, but my relationship, how I spent time with him, how I related to him and served him… well, these were all things that I did based on what I’ve been taught by a myriad of people throughout my life. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized how much a relationship with Christ isn’t about cussing, drinking or not drinking, or necessarily following a list of right or wrongs. It’s much more simple than that. It’s about love and that simple act of spending time with someone that you cherish and delight in. When love comes first, then you want nothing more than to do whatever you can to please that person and it comes easily, not begrudgingly. And the great thing is that the relationship goes both ways where in the past my relationship felt one-sided. I was making these sacrifices, but where was God?

Perhaps it’s just part of growing up, part of having the experience of success and opportunity and realizing that money and possessions are empty. Relationships that aren’t founded on Christ are exhausting and dry. Investing time in things of this world is futile and although material possessions are sometimes necessary there must always be a balance of what I truly need and what I just want.

I’d like to be a man of God who has integrity and serves people no matter where they are at in their lives. Christian or Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Gay, Straight, Democrat, Republic, Black, White, Brown - we are all in this together and Christ is in it with us.