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Coming Alive To God

             In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

“If you love me, keep my commands.” ~Jesus (John 14:11)

          Someone recently suggested that in our discipline of celebrating the sabbath, we should do what makes us “come alive in God.” From today’s verse, it might be understood that we are to be unresponsive to sin but responsive to God.  If we love God, we are to obey Him, which we can only do if we are alive to Him or in Him.

          The same person (or another person the same video) suggested that keeping the sabbath could include playing basketball with your kids, taking a nap, or hanging out with friends and family. Again, anything that makes you “come alive in God” is an acceptable part of the discipline of sabbath-keeping. But this is where the trouble begins for me.

          What about playing basketball with your kids makes you come alive in God? Is loving your kids and enjoying spending time with them “coming alive in God”? Or can you love your kids and enjoy spending time with them while ignoring God? I suspect the answer is, “Yes.” And I suspect some folks would like to point out to me that it’s an individual thing and that I shouldn’t judge others for playing basketball with their kids as part of keeping the sabbath.

          But that’s not the problem. If you want to play basketball with your kids on the sabbath, that’s your decision. The question is what makes me come alive in God, and what makes me come alive in me. Yes, this is where I want to pull out my examination table. I don’t want this to have to be a “trial and error.” I want rules, wisdom, direction, and attitude.

          Since those don’t seem to be the way God works at the moment in my life, I’m going to have to take my spiritual life into my hands and experiment. Again. The last round of experimentation with the sabbath revealed that resting – doing nothing – didn’t make me alive to God.

          So, what might? The two ideas that come to mind are music and reading the right sort of material. Both of these ideas could be incorporated with other things, helping me keep my mind on things above while doing other things. The next question that comes to mind is “What would I like to make come alive to God?” Some possibilities include my garden, photography, writing, crafting, cooking – basically being creative, exploring (particularly the realm of ideas, as in reading), and service. Now, I just have to start figuring out how to do those things in a way that involves God.

         Now what are your thoughts about  your coming alive to God?

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 7, 2025 at 4:40 AM

    Engaging study of the Scriptures with people like you.

    ReplyDelete

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