Get Real
Why are you reading this? Do you read your Bible? Go to Church? Are you a Christian? Do you search the internet for writings and teachings about the Bible? Do you pray?
Why?…
STOP:
If you truly want to increase your faith, after you read this, ponder this question for at least five minutes or so…:Why are you reading this?” It is the number one most important question in your life…
I was reading the Bible once, and was asked this question. Why? “Why are you reading the Bible?” So I proceeded to give the ‘recorded message’ like answer that most people do. “Well, you supposed to bla bla bla…” “You got to bla bla bla…” “Because it’s God’s word…” “Because we’re supposed to…”Because faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word; and I am increasing my faith…”
Don’t miss this. “Why do you read the Bible?” is not a question. “Why do you go to Church?” isn’t either. If you give answers like the ones above, or think the reason you do is along those lines, try to notice something. Doesn’t the answer feel like a prerecorded response? I want you to go back in your mind. Take a little trip down memory lane. Try to remember when you first decided to “get saved!” Not so much when you first went to Church; you may have been taken by a parent or Grandparent. You may have went with a friend, or may not even remember when you first went, much less what was going on that day. I want you to try to remember when it was that you first “wanted” to go. When did you “get the bug”?
You could say that there are basically two types of people in the world. Philosophy minded; that for no apparent reason just start wondering why we are ‘here‘. These people ponder questions about simple life itself. They realize that there must be a reason for being here. They realize that there could very well be nothing; but there isn’t. Then you have people that never think of such things. These people think we’re crazy.
Were you pondering the meaning of life, and in your search for answers ended up where you are right now? Or, did maybe some tragic event happen in your life, and, through trying to cope with it, you found help in Christianity and moved on from there to……‘here’? Where you are now? How did you get ‘here‘, in this moment in time, reading this blog? What ”got” you “here”? Where did this journey begin for you? This is what you need to remember. Why are you reading this “now”? Something in your past started you on a journey that has led you many places, and now, “here”. What were you looking for “then”, and what are you looking for “now”? Remembering this is probably the most important thing you can do in life, if you are a Christian.
Remember when the Bible just seemed to “come alive”? Remember when you started to understand it, and even see it in you’re day-to-day life? Remember how new, and fresh everything seemed to be. Remember how you wanted to share this “new revelation” with everyone. You got saved. You got Baptized. You started reading your Bible and …..Bam! it hits you. It was wonderful new life, and most of us can remember that. Since then, the more you read, the more you “grow”.
You shared this, I’m sure, with others, and more than likely still do. This is probably why you’re reading this, to know more, and have more to share. The journey from “Bam!” to “here” has had many crooks and turns, and forks in the road. The thing I want to stress is that it is a journey of sorts. It has a beginning, and I want you to try to remember it. Before the “Bam!”. Here’s two ways to think about this. There were many roads you could have taken, so why did you choose this one? Also, it may be that you tried some different roads, and when you found this one, it worked so you stayed on it.
Even this is not what I want you to ponder, but I want you to gather all these thoughts, and put them in front of you now. If you could put the whole journey down in front of you, from your earliest memory of it, until now, and look at the whole picture; this is your life. We’re not talking metaphorically here. This is your life we’re talking about.
Now, ask yourself this question. “What do I want?” Ok, what do you want? The answer to this question is also very important for the same reason the other is. The questions are related.
When you started this journey, you wanted something you didn’t have. What was it, and do you have it yet?
I am going to close for now, because these questions need to be pondered. You need to think about this for more than just a few minutes. If indeed you want to increase your faith, you first need to answer these two questions. “Why am I a Christian?”, and “What do I want?” Let me put this another way. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you will never find it. And, if you don’t know what you want, you will never get it.
ECCLESIASTES 5: 10. “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase; this is also vanity.”
Why are you reading this? Do you read your Bible? Go to Church? Are you a Christian? Do you search the internet for writings and teachings about the Bible? Do you pray?
Why?…
STOP:
If you truly want to increase your faith, after you read this, ponder this question for at least five minutes or so…:Why are you reading this?” It is the number one most important question in your life…
I was reading the Bible once, and was asked this question. Why? “Why are you reading the Bible?” So I proceeded to give the ‘recorded message’ like answer that most people do. “Well, you supposed to bla bla bla…” “You got to bla bla bla…” “Because it’s God’s word…” “Because we’re supposed to…”Because faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word; and I am increasing my faith…”
Don’t miss this. “Why do you read the Bible?” is not a question. “Why do you go to Church?” isn’t either. If you give answers like the ones above, or think the reason you do is along those lines, try to notice something. Doesn’t the answer feel like a prerecorded response? I want you to go back in your mind. Take a little trip down memory lane. Try to remember when you first decided to “get saved!” Not so much when you first went to Church; you may have been taken by a parent or Grandparent. You may have went with a friend, or may not even remember when you first went, much less what was going on that day. I want you to try to remember when it was that you first “wanted” to go. When did you “get the bug”?
You could say that there are basically two types of people in the world. Philosophy minded; that for no apparent reason just start wondering why we are ‘here‘. These people ponder questions about simple life itself. They realize that there must be a reason for being here. They realize that there could very well be nothing; but there isn’t. Then you have people that never think of such things. These people think we’re crazy.
Were you pondering the meaning of life, and in your search for answers ended up where you are right now? Or, did maybe some tragic event happen in your life, and, through trying to cope with it, you found help in Christianity and moved on from there to……‘here’? Where you are now? How did you get ‘here‘, in this moment in time, reading this blog? What ”got” you “here”? Where did this journey begin for you? This is what you need to remember. Why are you reading this “now”? Something in your past started you on a journey that has led you many places, and now, “here”. What were you looking for “then”, and what are you looking for “now”? Remembering this is probably the most important thing you can do in life, if you are a Christian.
Remember when the Bible just seemed to “come alive”? Remember when you started to understand it, and even see it in you’re day-to-day life? Remember how new, and fresh everything seemed to be. Remember how you wanted to share this “new revelation” with everyone. You got saved. You got Baptized. You started reading your Bible and …..Bam! it hits you. It was wonderful new life, and most of us can remember that. Since then, the more you read, the more you “grow”.
You shared this, I’m sure, with others, and more than likely still do. This is probably why you’re reading this, to know more, and have more to share. The journey from “Bam!” to “here” has had many crooks and turns, and forks in the road. The thing I want to stress is that it is a journey of sorts. It has a beginning, and I want you to try to remember it. Before the “Bam!”. Here’s two ways to think about this. There were many roads you could have taken, so why did you choose this one? Also, it may be that you tried some different roads, and when you found this one, it worked so you stayed on it.
Even this is not what I want you to ponder, but I want you to gather all these thoughts, and put them in front of you now. If you could put the whole journey down in front of you, from your earliest memory of it, until now, and look at the whole picture; this is your life. We’re not talking metaphorically here. This is your life we’re talking about.
Now, ask yourself this question. “What do I want?” Ok, what do you want? The answer to this question is also very important for the same reason the other is. The questions are related.
When you started this journey, you wanted something you didn’t have. What was it, and do you have it yet?
I am going to close for now, because these questions need to be pondered. You need to think about this for more than just a few minutes. If indeed you want to increase your faith, you first need to answer these two questions. “Why am I a Christian?”, and “What do I want?” Let me put this another way. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you will never find it. And, if you don’t know what you want, you will never get it.
ECCLESIASTES 5: 10. “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase; this is also vanity.”
