Only doctors can get away with saying "I'm glad I haven't seen you in a while." They live, after all, by the old saying no news is good news. Obviously no one goes to the doctor just for fun, so it can be assumed something is wrong if they show up at a doctor's office.
If I was a doctor, I would get sick of people coming in and complaining about their various illnesses. I would also hate to be the one to inform a patient of a terrible disease they contracted.
I'm glad I'm not God.
God is a sort of doctor. Too bad we treat Him like one. We often only go to Him when we're sick or when we're in need.
At least God doesn't require insurance. Imagine... Everyone is praying for a miracle healing over you. Then, you hear a booming voice: "Sorry. You don't have the right insurance. Come back later." What would the price of such insurance be? Then again... There is a price to pay for receiving God's healing--Faith. You have to do the difficult task of abandoning any ideas you have about the ordinary and expecting the extraordinary.
Instead of calling on God only when we're sick or in trouble, we need to treat Him like a best friend, rather than a doctor. No best friend would (or should) say "I hope I don't have to see you again soon."
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Birthdays
Today is my birthday, so I figured it would be an appropriate subject to write about...
Age is a tricky concept. Some see age as a negative thing (the more we live, the closer we are to death), but others view it as a process of becoming wiser (wisdom comes with age). In that light, why wouldn't someone want to be older?
It's funny thinking about age as a number. Some numbers sound so much older than they are. Seventeen sounds a lot older than sixteen, eighteen sounds a lot older than seventeen. It's a progression. Certain years are super important: 13 (you're finally a teenager!), 16 (you're starting to become a young adult!), 18 (you are an adult!--legally, anyway)... To anyone under twenty, twenty sounds old. To anyone over twenty, twenty sounds young.
Any increase in age represents an increase in maturity (hopefully).
It's the same principle with our spiritual lives. At the point we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are born again as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, like babies, we need to be nurtured. 1 Peter 2:2-3 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." What is spiritual milk? What nurtures our spirit? Reading the Bible--hearing God's Word, living and breathing new life into you daily. Praying--no baby develops properly without the love of a parent, and what better way is there to experience that love than to be in constant communication with our Heavenly Father? Fellowship--being with other Christians to keep you accountable, and to pray with you and for you.
If we are born again, why don't we celebrate spiritual birthdays? To me, everyday can be--or should be--that celebration. Who doesn't want to party everyday?
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Birthdays: A symbol of birth, new life. An annual reminder of how far you've come, a progression from one stage of life to another, the beginning of a new chapter. Age is a tricky concept. Some see age as a negative thing (the more we live, the closer we are to death), but others view it as a process of becoming wiser (wisdom comes with age). In that light, why wouldn't someone want to be older?
It's funny thinking about age as a number. Some numbers sound so much older than they are. Seventeen sounds a lot older than sixteen, eighteen sounds a lot older than seventeen. It's a progression. Certain years are super important: 13 (you're finally a teenager!), 16 (you're starting to become a young adult!), 18 (you are an adult!--legally, anyway)... To anyone under twenty, twenty sounds old. To anyone over twenty, twenty sounds young.
Any increase in age represents an increase in maturity (hopefully).
It's the same principle with our spiritual lives. At the point we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are born again as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, like babies, we need to be nurtured. 1 Peter 2:2-3 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." What is spiritual milk? What nurtures our spirit? Reading the Bible--hearing God's Word, living and breathing new life into you daily. Praying--no baby develops properly without the love of a parent, and what better way is there to experience that love than to be in constant communication with our Heavenly Father? Fellowship--being with other Christians to keep you accountable, and to pray with you and for you.
If we are born again, why don't we celebrate spiritual birthdays? To me, everyday can be--or should be--that celebration. Who doesn't want to party everyday?
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