resolute

2013

It is New Year’s Eve and talk as it always does turns towards resolutions. People sign up to an invisible contract with themselves to change aspects of their life. Most resolutions are not kept: gyms are busy in January and by February they are as quiet as December because people are looking for a quick fix.

We live in an age of instant gratification, if I want to change what I watch on television I just need to reach for the remote, I no longer have to get up and physical push in a button. Our cars are getting more advanced by the year with cruise control and automatic everything. One of my children was visiting their Grandmother and in her car was fussing near the window, he was looking for the button for the windows, we laughed as we showed him the handle, and again when we had to lock each door individually – do you remember that?

Do we approach God in the same manner, do we expect instant response? In the Old Testament there are many accounts of people preparing to meet God, there were rituals to be performed. Now I am not a proponent of elaborate rituals but do we give respect where it is due. 

There are different ways of expressing this respect:

Some people dress in their “Sunday best” to meet him at service showing respect for God in their best clothes. Question: Does this create a barrier on non-Sundays if that is how a person is to be dressed to meet God?

Some people sanction a time each day to meet with God in quiet or meditation time giving respect to God in time and silence. Question: Does this mean in the hustle of the day can they not meet with God?

Some people pray on their knees showing their respect for him by lowering themselves down. Question: Again does this mean in the middle of a supermarket trip they can’t pray because they are not in the right position?

Some people become so into whatever ritual they have that yes indeed they cannot meet with God because it is wrapped up in ritual. But having rituals does not preclude a person from mixing it up. If we truly believe that God has pitched his tent in our hearts then we can and should meet him often, not just in daily devotions, not just in prayer, not just in song, not just in praise and worship but all of these things. If we are living with God inside us, we are attached, he is a part of us and we are a part of him. So we can meet him anytime, anywhere, in any situation because he is already there.

That is what is so awesome about our God. He is the Creator, powerful and awe inspiring, and as well as that he is in relationship with us. He is a part of us. How brilliant is that!