Changing it up....

If your spiritual life is anything like mine, you can sometimes find yourself in a rut. You start out with a good discipline and the next thing you know you’re stuck in a routine. Staleness can sometimes creep into my relationship with Christ and as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten a little bit better at recognizing it a little earlier. When I was younger, I’d end up in a rut for weeks and not recognize it. As I’ve matured in my faith, I am sometimes better able to realize what’s happening, so I change it up.
About a month ago I sensed the need to change it up, so here's what I’ve been doing in my spiritual life. I began the new routine and stated reading in the book of John. Each time I read the bible I start with a simple prayer, something like “Jesus please apply something that I read to my life. Show me the weak spots or encourage me, but please speak to me.” I’ll begin reading and will go until something jumps off the page. If I get to the end of the section and nothing has jumped out at me, I’ll start back at the beginning of the section and re-read it. I’ll repeat the process until God impresses something on my heart. Over the course of the day I’ll re-read that section 2-3 times. Sometimes I’ll write it down, but the thing that God impressed upon my heart becomes a focus of my personal prayers for the day.
This has really helped me focus on listening rather than just covering the content. Let me give you an example from today. I began reading in John 18:28. Jesus has been taken to Pilate and we get to peek in on the conversation. Pilate asks Jesus if he is a King and the two begin an incredible dialogue. Jesus ends his part of the conversation by saying “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate's response jumped off the page, “what is truth”. Are you kidding me Pilate, you’re staring truth right in the face but you didn’t recognize it.
Here’s what God spoke to me, He said “Larry you stare at things so long you become familiar with My extraordinary.” I’m not saying no to his truth or rejecting it; I’m just responding from the routine of life rather than a relationship with Christ. I sometimes can look at the “truth” and fail to recognize the miracle in the middle of situation. There are things that come along, truth that stares me in the face and I recognize it, I see the truth in it. What’s the problem with that you ask? Here’s the problem, it should have caused me to fall on my face or jump and down. As Christians we’re not called to recognize truth, we called to respond to it!
Examine your life, what needs to change? What needs to be reorganized or deleted all together? Give it a try, change some things up. You might just be blessed in the process.