Clay in the Hands

Last night, as I finished a second helping of dinner and Kristi began talking about making cookies for desert, I realized that someone had left the television on in the living room.  The show that was on was The Biggest Loser.  I chuckled to myself as I thought about the irony of sitting in front of the TV with a plate full of cookies and watching The Biggest Loser.  But as I thought about what I was doing, I began to realize how disconnected I have become from what is happening around me (being disconnected from TV is not typically a bad thing).  It did not really bother me to watch people struggling to regain control over their obesity while I munched on a warm chocolate chip cookie.  One would think that the show would cause me to rethink my eating habits.  But nope, I just sat there and continued to eat.

Many times, this disconnect occurs in our spiritual lives as well.  We can sit through a church service on the weekend and then live a life contrary to what we just heard about throughout the week.  Often times this is the result of compartmentalization.  We keep our spiritual lives separate from the other areas of our lives.  The problem is, there is no such thing as a spiritual life and a work life and a home life – there is just life.  It all flows together, so we need to realize that the way we live on Monday is a reflection of who we really are on the inside.  We need to realize that as followers in the Way, we must strive to stay engaged in living for Christ – in striving to live as he lived – and not just on Sunday.

Going to church on the weekend and listening to Christian teaching with no intention of acting on it is just like sitting in front of the TV watching The Biggest Loser while stuffing your face with food.  If we are truly to make a difference in this world, we must remain engaged – we cannot allow ourselves to become disconnected.

I challenge you today to take a few minutes to analyze your life and then make it a point to reconnect to Jesus.