Every July, my wife Abby, and my kids and I got to Truman Lake to a town called Tightwad. There is a little resort there and we meet up with over 100 other family members from around the country for our annual family reunion. We have been doing this for the last ten years. Normally, I don't see any of these family members all year round unless, sadly we meet for funerals. I have a great family and I imagine that if I were in a pickle any one of them would step up and help me out. They all claim to love me (although they may not always like me.) But the fact of the matter is I don't think I could get the courage to ask any of these family members for help because we do not have that type of relationship.
God desires to have a relationship with us. That is the whole reason we were created was to enter into relationship with Him. My relatives are happy with our relationship--they only have to deal with me once a year. Not God though. He wants to have a most intimate relationship with us.
How often do we reject God though? Yet we expect Him to give everything for us and are upset when he does not provide as if He were a wishing well. It is good that people feel that they can always go to God not matter what their relationship is. If fact, I believe God works in ways we may not understand and that He can bring good out of bad. Maybe a tough situation is what a person needs in order to get right with God. It is certainly not for me to say how God is using certain people or where He is in their lives. That type of attitude is what causes me to become judgemental.
I'll be honest that I really did not get serious with my faith until nine years ago. In fact for probably ten years I was a CEO Christian. That's not Chief Executive Officers. It's CChristmas, Easter, and Other occasion Christian. These are the Christians who obviously, only go to church on those occasions. I really did not start going back to church until after my kids were born. Then, because I wanted my kids to be raised Catholic and not *gasp* protestant (ewwwww :-)) I started going back to mass.
I'm sorry for those ten years I missed. I wonder how much closer to God would I be today if I did not constantly reject Him then. It really breaks my heart to see those who do reject God every Sunday. It hurts me to see people treat religion as a social event and only step foot in church when it's time to get married, when it's time to get their kids baptised, when it's time for their kid's first communion, or when it's time for their kids confirmation and then start the cycle again when it's time for their kids to get married.
For those of us who do go to mass weekly, life is only made more difficult. You see, God doesn't want just our Sundays. He wants everyday. What have we done to strengthen our relationship with God today? Have we gone to daily mass? When was the last time we went to confession? How is that prayer life?
Jesus said that the most important commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. If you are a CEO or if you are a daily communicant (someone who goes to mass daily) we should do whatever we need to do to became even closer to God. We are all called to be saints. We are all called to push ourselves and through God's grace become closer to God. The more comfortable we are talking with God and the closer our relationship is the more comfortable we will be to go to Him for help and the more comfortable we will be accepting His will.
God desires to have a relationship with us. That is the whole reason we were created was to enter into relationship with Him. My relatives are happy with our relationship--they only have to deal with me once a year. Not God though. He wants to have a most intimate relationship with us.
How often do we reject God though? Yet we expect Him to give everything for us and are upset when he does not provide as if He were a wishing well. It is good that people feel that they can always go to God not matter what their relationship is. If fact, I believe God works in ways we may not understand and that He can bring good out of bad. Maybe a tough situation is what a person needs in order to get right with God. It is certainly not for me to say how God is using certain people or where He is in their lives. That type of attitude is what causes me to become judgemental.
I'll be honest that I really did not get serious with my faith until nine years ago. In fact for probably ten years I was a CEO Christian. That's not Chief Executive Officers. It's CChristmas, Easter, and Other occasion Christian. These are the Christians who obviously, only go to church on those occasions. I really did not start going back to church until after my kids were born. Then, because I wanted my kids to be raised Catholic and not *gasp* protestant (ewwwww :-)) I started going back to mass.
I'm sorry for those ten years I missed. I wonder how much closer to God would I be today if I did not constantly reject Him then. It really breaks my heart to see those who do reject God every Sunday. It hurts me to see people treat religion as a social event and only step foot in church when it's time to get married, when it's time to get their kids baptised, when it's time for their kid's first communion, or when it's time for their kids confirmation and then start the cycle again when it's time for their kids to get married.
For those of us who do go to mass weekly, life is only made more difficult. You see, God doesn't want just our Sundays. He wants everyday. What have we done to strengthen our relationship with God today? Have we gone to daily mass? When was the last time we went to confession? How is that prayer life?
Jesus said that the most important commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. If you are a CEO or if you are a daily communicant (someone who goes to mass daily) we should do whatever we need to do to became even closer to God. We are all called to be saints. We are all called to push ourselves and through God's grace become closer to God. The more comfortable we are talking with God and the closer our relationship is the more comfortable we will be to go to Him for help and the more comfortable we will be accepting His will.
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