Have you ever noticed how people absolutely lose their minds over things? Probably not, ’cause you’re right there with them. As am I.
We gush over this or that coming sale, party, or road trip. We “can’t even” when our favorite weather comes. Or our team plays. Or a new season of our show is on. Or we eat something particularly delicious. Or these shoes are half-off. The giddiness is over-the-top, as proven by sappy, all-caps posts on social media, permanent smiles and sleepless nights, and the overwhelming topic of conversation when we show up at church.
Yes, church. All over the world, Christians gather only to find their greatest thrill comparing team brackets, quoting movies, or raving over their next vacation or home improvement project.
Oh, the things that excite us.
How easily we are consumed with frivolous things, while we trudge through or overlook or hurry past things of vast and mind-blowing importance. Things great and beyond compare. Things that, if truly experienced and known, have the power to overwhelm and electrify us and cause us to blush.
Truth that spans all of time, souls changed for eternity, and visible, tangible experiences of God’s power. These are realities we can see and have and know, but we’re too consumed by fluff to notice. Somehow we leave the greatest glories untouched in a Book on the shelf. And somehow the apps that are supposed to keep it at our fingertips are rarely opened, lost in the shuffle of things more fascinating or demanding.
Do we ever post about sermons or Scripture or the saving of souls? No, because those things will get fewer “likes” than the cute selfie at the show. Do we ever lose sleep because we’re poring over the Word or having a meaningful conversation or serving a neighbor? No, because we already said “yes” to shopping sprees, workouts, after-school activities, and hours on the couch, so we’re too tired. Our eyes don’t light up when Bible studies are announced. What pours out of us is the shallow content we consume. Our brains are fixed on nothing spiritual when Sundays roll around, because these things just don’t excite us.
So we must teach ourselves to delight in that which is most delightful. We must feverishly fill our minds with the greatest glories until our soul believes them and our spirit hopes for them and our body responds in like manner. Then, when the goodness of God is always on our tongue, and we “can’t even,” and true joy floods our hearts, and people notice? We’ll know the greatest days of our lives have just begun.
[image credit: unsplash.com]
Journey of the Word 