Love?

Have you ever lost someone you loved, whether to death or simply separation? If so you know how at least for a time being, all seems meaningless without that person.
Our love for Christ needs to be the kind of love where everything is meaningless without him. Our hearts are all to empty and we seek filling through everything the world offers. Solomon knows all about that and said that all is vanity. “like grasping at the wind.” How silly is it to not listen to the wisest man in the world?
If we truly want to fill our thirst we need to exhibit a love for God even stronger than the love for that someone. All of life needs to be meaningless unless pursued for Him.
What does that love look like? It looks like a life lived in the Spirit, bearing the fruits as explained in Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Time

With Christmas break finally here, my next two weeks are looking very relaxing. Even with AP gov, wrestling, and working, i still have hours of free time. This is much different than the schedule I'm used to. I have plans for almost every day to hang out with friends already, and the time without friends will be spent watching tv, or reading a book. It will be amazing to drop all my responsibilities for a little bit.
However, I can already feel myself slipping away from my Christian responsibilities. While it is always a struggle to find time to read God's Word or pray daily, this break seems to make it even more difficult. During school days, I could always count on having those 30-60 minutes of free time to read. Now though, I stay up until 3 a.m., and tell myself that I had no time to read, when I've been watching tv for 5 hours. I constantly have to remind myself that while these weeks are meant for fun, its no excuse to forget about God. No matter how many awesome times we have over break, we must continue to make time to read the Bible, and keep His commands in mind as we go from place to place. Who knows what awesome things God might show us in His Word, if we sit down and take the time to read it? Nobody wants to miss out on the fun, but we shouldn't be missing out on our personal time with God either. So go out, have fun, but decide now, before you start thinking about the next party you'll be at, when you will make the time to further your walk with God. With that, I wish you all a merry Christmas!

Dying?

I was reading a friends note on facebook. To be honest, it was more like skimming. A line caught my eye, and I thought I would repeat it here, "God loves us so much He would rather die than be without us." Now I'm not sure about originality or where this person got the quote, but wow what a quote. Just think about that for a minute. We all know John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son...." But have you ever thought about it in those terms? God would rather die than be without us. Can you say that about Him? Would you rather die physically than be without Him? Martyerdom is not required of most of us, but a different kind of death is. A death to the flesh. We are called to die to the flesh (Romans 8:13). Paul later says in Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." We may not be required to physically end our life as God did through Christ, but we are required to die to our sinful nature, our flesh. What would that look like? "(insert name) would rather die [in a hundred different ways] than live without Christ."

Coming Home?

As you might know, I am coming home in just a few days. College life has been fun so far, but i would like a break, and am looking forward to coming home.
I woke up today slowly, a few hours ago just laying in my bed wishing i could go home, and then wondering why I felt so pressured to be home. My morning routine, and even daily life has been altered ever so slightly by wanting to be home. When asked how i'm doing I respond "Good, but I can't wait to be home" instead of just "good." When i think of how fun doing something here would be, I can't help but think of how much more fun it would be at home. And this morning my room mate got me thinking by saying something to the point of, "I am past the point of just feeling like going home, it's like I need to go home now."
The last few days My Christian Life and Thought class has been discussing whether earth is our home or not. It struck me: What would my life look like if I felt the same urgency to prepare for my Heavenly homecoming as I did my earthly return to my place of birth? What would be characteristic of me? What daily routines would change? Would i see the world differently?