“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3
If you’re like me, then you find yourself fighting distraction(s). Whether it’s the digital vortex, the thought-labyrinth, the daydream drama, or just life in general, we can all be easily drawn off the path of health, wholeness, and proper worship by distractions. A story in this vein that sticks out to me is from John Bunyan’s classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress, where Christian and his companion needing a break from the rough path they’re walking on take the “easy” soft and pleasing path on the other side of the fence. What they don’t realize is that that ease ends up putting them to sleep, which gets them caught by the Giant Despair, and only after being tortured and nearly losing their lives, do they barely manage to escape. They–like many of us–got distracted by the so-called ease of comfort.
You may not be on a literal rocky path right now, but you can relate to sacrificing the “best” on the altar of the just “ok”. I’ll give it in a real and practical sense. Ever been stuck on a Netflix series and stay up too late? I have. Been there…done that. What started out as one episode ended up being 3 or 4, and before I know it, it’s 1:30am. Ouch. The alarm came early, then the quiet time dragged, and next thing I know I’m really just coming to my senses around 10am. Maybe it’s not Netflix for you, but instead it’s Pinterest or Instagram or your thought-life or daydreams or whatever. The point is, the temptations to being distracted and being drawn away from the best by the ok or the mediocre are always present. No one wants to drag through their quiet time or skip it all together to ensure the precious hours of sleep are clocked and not missed again.
So, how does this relate to the title of this article?
This article is part of a series I’m kicking off that I need, and so do you. It’s a series that I’ve titled, The Year of the Bible, and in our world today, we need this. We need to not just know our Bibles, but we need to meditate upon, to marinate upon, and to live our Bibles for the sole purpose of worshipping our God. The Christian, to the secular world is in many cases irrelevant. This obviously is not the case in every pocket of the culture, but generally speaking it’s the case. The Christian is irrelevant, because they worship too much of the world as seen by the lives they live and the decisions they make. One simple litmus test is whether or not the Christian views their lives (time, talents, and treasures) as a conduit or a dam. Is their aim in their spheres of influence building their kingdom or God’s kingdom? In other words, if a Christian mechanic or plumber or accountant was put on the stand and judged by his or her associates as to whether or not they were a Christian, how would they fair? Would there be enough evidence of a Christian life to convict them of being a Christian? Now, I’m not saying that “doing” Christian things makes someone a Christian, but what I am saying is that “being” a Christian makes them do certain things. To put it another way, the Christian is to be a conduit of the character of God, and their lives are a living testimony of Him. Being a conduit of God’s character means many things, which we’ll cover, but suffice it to say that it supremely means to love.
And so, our culture, now more than ever needs to see Christians who worship God through the lives they live and the love they share. But, as I previously said the Christian worships too much of the world.
So what’s the answer to this worship confusion?
Knowing how to read and apply the Bible to everyday life. However, many Christians, because of distractions, confusion, and apathy do not know how to read and apply their Bibles. And that’s why I wrote this article HERE. It’s one way that I believe will lay the foundation for a life of effective Bible reading, heart-changing, and worshipping of God.
So, hang on tight…this series is going to get real practical and will address many of the issues that many are facing today.
God help us. God help us worship You. Amen.
— January 4, 2019