Pursuing God 101

I'm somewhat a minimalist in that I like to reduce big, often complicated parts of my world into their most basic and essential components. I've reduced the complex area of diet and nutrition to “Eat less. Exercise more.” My organizational philosophy to bring order and sanity to my life comes down to “Brains are for thinking. Paper is for remembering.” Proof of the existence of a spiritual evil entity I sum up in the following quote: “If the Devil don't exist, how do you explain that some people are a lot worse than they're smart enough to be?”*

When my kids first left for college, being a minimalist mom, I felt compelled to send them off with a reminder of the basics of pursuing God that I hoped they had already learned. At this time of year when kids (of all ages) are leaving home and going off on their own, I decided to share some of the text from the book I gave to my kids when they first went away from the spiritual shelter of home. What follows is portions of that book, the basic and essential things I wanted them to remember about connecting with the One who loved them more than I did. (I have their permission to share this, though I have edited out the mushy personal mom stuff...)

You probably already know everything that I’m going to say in this book, but because I am such a “mom”, I needed to write it all down and give it to you anyway... Following God isn’t always easy, but it is simple. This book is just a reminder of those simple things that are involved in following Him.

Talk to Him everyday, all day. (That’s what praying is!) Remember He loves you even more than your mom and dad, (and that’s quite a lot). Tell Him everything – the good, the bad, the happy, the sad. Thank Him, praise Him, tell Him when you blew it and you’re sorry. And ask Him for what you need and, even (gasp!), for what you want. Remember God wants a relationship with you. Even though He knows everything you might tell Him, it’s the act of communicating with Him that really is what prayer is all about.

Spend some time reading the Bible every day. All of scripture is “God-breathed”, whether you can wrap your mind around that concept or not. It contains amazing truth and wisdom and it really does have a power to get to places inside of you and change things. Don’t get hung up on how to read it – just do it. Ask God to speak through the scriptures that you read. Read it in small amounts, or large, from beginning to end or hop around. Just read it! Sometimes a verse will go straight to your heart. Write it down on a card or in a small notebook so you can read it over and over again. Better yet, memorize it. Scriptural truth fixed in the mind goes deeper into the heart.

Find a good church, one that has good Bible-based teaching. Find one that fits you – the worship, the preaching style, the people. Don’t be afraid to shop around. Remember, the ultimate question to ask when looking for a church is “God, do you want me here?” There are no perfect churches, but there are churches that God has earmarked just for you. Find the one that He has for you and then become a faithful part of it. Commit to being there for worship service every week, whether you feel like being there or not. Sometimes your faithfulness in doing what you don’t feel like at the moment brings tremendous blessing into your life. The service that you almost didn’t go to is often the one that God uses to really touch your heart and change your life.

Be with other believers. This usually means finding a small group to fellowship with, pray with, study the Bible with, talk with and do fun things with. The group should be small enough that you can have impact in the lives of others in the group, and they can have impact in your life. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to pray for you or with you about something. Remember, the Lord is a very relational God. He desires to be in relationship with you but also desires that you be in relationship with other believers. A lone Christian is an oxymoron. Remember the Lord gave you talents to share with others. Some may not know Him yet, some may have known Him a long time. God will use you in both of their lives.

Remember Whose child you are…

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life...                   - Philippians 2:14-16a 

*This last quote is borrowed from Wendell Berry's short story “Don't Send a Boy to do a Man's Work” from the book, That Distant Land.