Is it wrong to not think about God?

Doug Melven said:

@dreadnought says all we need is common sense and then he quotes Scripture to prove his point.

We absolutely need Scripture, we base our lives on it. Those who don't base there lives on it have problems. Proverbs 14:12

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We don't need the Bible to tell us that we need to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

Sketcher said:

I would say it's wrong to never think about God. I don't read Piper or the verses people have quoted here as "do this or else." I read them as invitations to see God's glory where you haven't seen it before, to worship and enjoy him in new ways, a peeling back of the curtain so to speak. I don't believe God would have us stress over forgetting to think about him for however many minutes or seconds when performing a task at work, for instance.

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And doing a job to the best of our ability is a form of worship, Col. 3:17. This connects to the verse before. It's and attitude that comes from the heart but cannot be forced or there is no Glory to God.
The consequences are not as close of fellowship with God, a loss of rewards if we are working out of our "flesh". (1st Cor. 3:11-23) But Piper can be overbearing, IMO. We all are at different levels of maturity. For some that means walking with God pretty well 24/7, but for most It's much less-if we are honest.

God would rather have a crayon painting for Him and His Glory from our heart, than a master pieces to our own glory we grudglying give to Him.

Ben Collyer said:

I am quietly grateful, but Im not one of those people who wake up and spring out of bed thanking God audibly, there is a stench of legalism and phariseeism in these replies

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Whoa. "Stench of legalism"? Coming on a bit strong, there, Ben.

What does being "quietly grateful" mean? Certainly, one doesn't have to be effervescing about God at every single moment, but there is so much about which we ought to be grateful to God and so much to enjoy about Him that expressing a "quiet gratefulness" to Him doesn't seem entirely appropriate. If you won a million dollars, would you be quietly happy? If you were dying of cancer but an oncologist arrived with a cure, would you be quietly relieved? Born-again believers are joint-heirs with the Creator of the universe; they have obtained from Him the "cure" for the eternal second death in Hell. This is, I think, cause for enormous and constant joy and praise, not "quiet gratefulness"!

Ben Collyer said:

I am quietly grateful, but Im not one of those people who wake up and spring out of bed thanking God audibly, there is a stench of legalism and phariseeism in these replies

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aiki said:

Whoa. "Stench of legalism"? Coming on a bit strong, there, Ben.

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Hi Ben, I've read through this thread and all the replies in it. Considering what you just said, I find myself wondering, what is your definition of "legalism"?

Thanks!

--David

Ben Collyer said:

I've been reading a lot from christian hedonists such as piper who seem to think that we must do everything to the glory of God

he makes it sound like if im eating a steak then I MUST be thinking about Gods glory as communicated by the steaks flavour, or if im watching a sunset I MUST be thinking about how the sun communicates Gods glory, its exhausting and really sucks the enjoyment out of my life

so is it true that its sin to do/think/say anything without reference to God?

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I’d say it’s OK to not think about God, as long as you don’t mind him thinking about you!

Actually, it may be as noted, like your resistance to Scripture directly,
it is a stench to those as written in Scripture,
but a fresh aroma to those others as written in Scripture >>>
2 Corinthians 2:16 To the one, we are an odor of death ... - Bible Hub
https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/2-16.htm
To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.

Ben Collyer said:

I am quietly grateful, but Im not one of those people who wake up and spring out of bed thanking God audibly, there is a stench of legalism and phariseeism in these replies

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Ben, the title you gave your post = "Is it wrong to not think about God?" Well, guess what: when we love someone, THAT IS WHO WE THINK ABOUT. So if you're not thinking about God, IT MEANS YOU DON'T LOVE HIM. C.S. Lewis said, "We are told we should love God. We find no such feeling in ourselves." Yet, as dreadnought said in the post directly above this one I'm typing right now, we are to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all are mind, and all our strength. So what can you do? You must ACT AS IF you love God (pray, read Bible, go to church, donate to church). Because C.S. Lewis also said, if we want to love someone, we should ACT AS IF we loved him. Then, soon thereafter, we will find ourselves loving him.

"One of the greatest promises in the Bible is found in Psalm 1:2-3. This passage teaches that if we meditate on God’s Word day and night we will be “like a tree firmly planted by streams of water” (NAS). Here is the secret to the consistent Christian life."

https://www.navigators.org/how-to-meditate-day-and-night/

This morning while thinking about all the things God has done for me I thought about how you were saying in the OP that you had a hard time giving God the glory all the time and that trying to do so was wearing you out.
To me this sounded like "Forced gratitude", an oxymoron.
Then this song came on the radio and the singer asked, "When did this love become unconsuming".
Then I thought about what Jesus told the church at Ephesus about them leaving there first love.
Not having gratitude leads to leaving first love. Don't go there.

The way you feel about this never came from God. You WANT to do it or you don't. He will not make you nor will He every make you feel bad guilty what ever if you don't. He LOVES YOU. That LOVE never changes no matter what you do.

So.. tell Him how you feel. Get to know HIM! God talks.. walks with you and lives in you. If you have no desire for Him.. tell Him.. ask Him to give you it.. give you a joy for Him. To think to speak to read what ever. YES its ALL about HIM in EVERYTHING we do. Yet He wants you to be YOU and to ENJOY life. So its not of HIM telling you giving you these thoughts. God will ALWAYS back up what He says by HIS word.

if we keep our mind on Him we have perfect peace. His JOY is our strenght..so forth so on. We live in the flesh. and this Flesh does NOT want to do ANYTHING of God. Sometimes we just HAVE to do it.. to worship when we dont want to.. that JOY will come..ITS COMES FROM HIM! To read when we dont want to on and on.

He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. He will NEVER make you feel like you HAVE to do anything. He does not judge you nor condemn you. He wants you to KNOW HIM! How can we love worship what ever something someone we dont even know? So... just ASK.. and KNOW He hears you KNOW He WILL ANSWER! Not by what you feel think or see..but FAITH! Relax.. He came to give you live and give it more abundantly. God.. the TRUE one.. ALWAYS gives.. gives and gives. He needs nothing.. WE are the ones in need.

When you first start trying to stay focused on the Lord, it does seem "exhausting" and no fun, even very boring, to most everyone. In fact, it can seem impossible. I know all this from personal experience. But I also know that over time, with prayer for guidance and focus, progress is made and it's more than worth it.

Keep praying to focus on the Lord and ENJOY it. The blessings are so great if you do. "Delight yourself in YHWH" aka the Lord "and He will give you the desires of your heart." Not a bad deal, huh? He's not asking you to stay focused on Him in your own strength, because you don't have it and nobody does. He's wanting you to pray to do it through HIS strength.

"He who keeps his mind stayed on me I will keep in perfect peace." Now we all need salvation not just for our souls but from enemies here and there, and from life's ongoing problems in general. "In quietness and rest is your salvation." Quietness and rest are synonymous with peace, and how do we get that peace? Keeping our minds stayed on Him.

Whatever the world's distractions, and they are endless, they are less than nothing compared to what just a few second of closeness to the Father brings. You don't have to wait to die to experience some of Heaven. If we keep our minds stayed on Him and live for Him, there can be a joy that makes wealth, money, ease, beauty, power, whatever, all look like dung by comparison. Paul talked about that.

More modern people like missionary Frank Laubach have talked about it, and lived that way, too.

I pray for you to be taught of the Lord in this regard and to know amazing joy.