We can ease up on ourselves.

The last few weeks at church have been very good sermons. Our pastors have really challenged us to do some self evaluation and to make action plans in order to follow through on some positive changes. I really like this but the last couple of days I have beginning to feel like it is easy to become very self centered in our spiritual lives. I think we can easily get caught up reading the Bible, listening to sermons, and praying all for the sake of making improvements in our lives. Don't get me wrong I think we can all improve and further our relationship with Christ. But self improvement should not be the only reason we indulge in these things. Recently I have been reading the book of Hosea and it is really interesting to consider God's perspective. In Hosea he is pretty angry with his people and their persistence in worshiping other gods and breaking his commands. He puts Hosea in a position to care for children that are not his but that his wife had as a result of her prostitution. What an awful situation for Hosea to be in and yet that situation is representative of the way God was feeling about his people at that time.

I know that we should look for areas of our life that might not be pleasing to God and we should remedy them, and that through scripture and prayer we can identify those areas. But if that is the only level of interaction we have with God and the only aspect of our faith that we practice then I can't help but think we will be dooming ourselves to a life full of failure and depression. I think there is significant value in taking time to pray and study the word in an effort to get to know God better like we would if we were trying to get to know a friend. Similarly I think we should be taking the time to marvel at what God has done in this world as we read it in scripture and as we experience it in the world around us. That is where we can truly find joy and the encouragement that I think we need to live as followers of Christ in a world that has a lot of evil running around.

Hope everyone had a great month of January. Mine was really busy, but it felt like I got a lot done. We'll see how February goes.

New Direction for the Blog

I've decided to take my blog in a new direction. I will still include posts similar to what I have posted in the past but I intend to do more than just that. This blog is going to serve as a sort of journal of what I am studying, learning, praying about, interesting topics covered at church or Bible Study.

I encourage you to check back regularly to see what I'm posting. I invite your responses to my posts both agreeing and disagreeing and maybe just more insight that you might have to offer. Feel free to post what you are studying or learning as well as ask questions. You can also give me suggestions on what you would like me to post about.

I intend to post at least once a week but maybe more as things occur to me.

I hope you enjoy the things I write, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone but I don't plan to.