What's Important?

     My family values work. Lots of hard work. The ability to put your mind to whatever is at hand, focus, and complete the job. This is a good thing, something which I take for granted, unfortunately. There is much to be said about hard work. Life is not about only doing the things you want. 

    But I wonder, what have we lost in valuing that principle? Too often I find myself impatient. I feel like, unless something was accomplished in a certain time frame, that slot of time was completely wasted. But was it really? What if we accomplish things in solitude or quiet that we would not have otherwise done had we been doing something else. What if, today, God had wanted you to put down your task list and listen to him? What if He had things to tell you in that time? You say, "Well, I can pray as I work." Sure, you can, I do all the time. 

   But let me ask you this: How honored do you feel when you walk into your friend's house, and he/she drops whatever she's doing to have a chat with you or make you some coffee? Or how do you feel when you go to an old friend for advice, but  they're too busy to really listen to your problem? You leave feeling confused and in want. 

   Do you think God ever feels that way? "My, that Danae, she loves me, but she does a poor job of showing it. She only wants to be with Me when she needs Me. Sometimes I wish she would know that I need her. I need to know that I am important to her, important enough to drop whatever she is doing to 'have coffee' with Me."

   Today I did that.  

   I realize that this is probably not the first time you have read a blog or article with this point. And you may be thinking that I am the type that just sits and meditates and drinks lattes and never does any "real" work. You may think that, but I hope God moves you to the place you need to be in your relationship.  

   Thank you to those of you who have "dropped" those things you were doing in order to listen to me. It meant the world to me.  ♥

"Take time to be holy. The world rushes on."

    This could be the theme of my morning on this blustery cold day. I woke up, my mind dreading the things I had planned to do today. If only I could ignore them, and they would just magically get done. But alas, I peeled myself out of bed and, with some hesitation, put on my running clothes in order to fulfill a promise I'd made to a friend.

       As my heart raced, so did my mind, like it always does when I'm doing something "mindless." Last night I tuned into a sermon on the radio. The pastor was preaching on Hebrews. He condemned the idea that we somehow fall out of God's grace every time we sin. He  declared that we as Christians tend to mix the Old Testament law with the New Testament law.  Now, I do understand that we don't earn our salvation, but I had never heard the other side of the spectrum. That, in the same way our good works do not buy our salvation, neither do sins nullify our salvation. I was skeptical of this teaching, but I kept listening. Surely I couldn't just do whatever I wanted and God would just keep on forgiving me, He continued to say. "Now, you'll hear preachers telling you, 'You have to do this, this, and this [in order to be a Christian].'"
 
       I must confess I often feel I just do not measure up when I finish hearing a sermon. I leave determined to make a change in my life, and by the time Monday rolls around I have given up. Maybe I am just not disciplined enough. Why do we feel like we have to keep on being "reborn?" Was I not a Christian before this sermon came across the mic?

       I finally connected the dots when the radio pastor said that if we do do all the things we are "supposed to," and we get to the end of our lives, will we say to God, "Here I am, I've done all that you asked of me. Now can I please get past You into the doorway of Heaven?" How terrible, Not only are we completely indifferent to the fact that He gave His Son to live on earth for thirty-three years and also suffer excruciating pain and sorrow, we also think we are somewhat entitled to Heaven. To our shame!

      So now I see what this pastor was trying to say. God views us as covered. Covered by the blood of Jesus. That is what is beautiful to Him. He does not want our achievements and our little acts of goodness. He spits on them. He is Good, so why do we think He needs more of that.  What He truly wants is surrender. surrender of all the things we are doing, good, and bad, and in place of those a heart that is turned over to Him, and He tells us, " Thank you, child, for this heart of yours, I will now, with My great hand,  make it into a heart of gold. You're welcome."

     Do not read this post and go on about your day as planned. Stop, stop for an hour, and stop simply doing. You already have His approval, there's no need to earn it.

  "For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of  yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph 2:9