The Little Things

How do you enjoy God?  Is it through music?  Is it through nature?  Is it through the job you do?  Is it gardening, reading, building something?  There are a million ways to enjoy God.  For some people it’s in a group of people, for others it’s when they can go off by themselves and just sit.  No matter how you enjoy God, alone or in a group, we all need community.  We’re made for fellowship.  We’re not made to do things by ourselves.  Sometimes it takes me a lot of effort to get off the couch and go do things.  Now, I might be lazy, but that’s not what I mean.  I mean the effort to leave the house, the effort it takes to be around people for me is enormous.  I go to church, I go hang out with friends, and I come back exhausted.  Being around people just takes a huge effort.  And yet I do it…and often come back encouraged.

Believers are meant to get together with other believers.  We are meant to get together in church, and when one person is missing, it is noticeable to someone in some way.  Some people are discipled; others do the discipling.  I think we need both in our life-we need to both teach and be taught.  One-on-one time is something that is dear to my heart.  This is the way I’m encouraged the most-to get close enough to someone older who can give advice that you are willing to share almost anything.  In the same way, I want someone younger (at least younger in faith) to look up to me.  I want them to feel comfortable enough to open up to me and listen to any advice I can give.

Enjoying God is one way that Christians live in light of the gospel.  Another way that we live in light of the gospel is living to show Christ to others.  There is song that’s a few years old called “Live Like That.”  There is a line in that song that says “If others pass and they don’t know my name, will they know that I’ve been changed?”  This line has been on my heart a lot lately.  Do the people around me know that there is something different about me, even if they don’t know me that well?  Do they see and wonder what I have in my life that gives me joy and hope?  I hope so.  One of my prayers for the past few months is that either make a difference in peoples’ lives (doing something little like listening when they need it, picking up something they dropped, etc) or if I’m already doing that, that God would show me those times that I make a difference.

I want to live in light of the Gospel.  I want my life to be a testimony to what I believe.  I want people to know that I’ve been changed.  I want to enjoy God in so many different ways, and live my life for him.