I got an eye-opener into my own spiritual life yesterday through that of one of my sons. Out of the blue he mentioned that he was thinking of going to the "onething regional" conference in Nashville this weekend, Friday evening through Saturday an outreach of the International House of Prayer. Since the registration was free, he was only concerned with coming up with the gas money. I told him I'd pay for that, but asked what he was going to do about a motel. He looked surprised, held up the comforter from off of his bed and said he'd simply sleep in his truck, amazingly undisturbed by the thoughts of possible nighttime big city violence which bothered his mom.
"What about money for food?" I asked.
"Mom, that's what dollar menus are for!"
Then I said, "But won't you be lonely, going by yourself?" He smiled and said, "Me and Jesus, driving down the highway. I'll be fine."
What a wake-up call to my spiritually lazy self! If God can even get me to leave the comforts and schedules of my life at home to consider going away to a conference, too often the spiritual content of the meeting takes second place to the other reasons I come up with for going. For example, who doesn't enjoy a night away at a nice hotel? And the restaurants! I probably put more time into thinking where I'll eat each meal than I devote to anticipating each service. And surely I think about who else might be going, and whether we'll bond more closely together as a result of the trip.
My son's purpose in going was solely to bond closer to Jesus. As it turned out, his father was delighted with his travel plans and offered to pay for a room and give him some money to eat off of - in essence to fund the trip. And isn't that what God has done for us? He paid the price for our spiritual journey with the death of His Son, that we might bond more closely with Jesus. All He's looking for in us is simply the desire to go.
17 hours ago
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