Conditions or being conditioned…

I thought about this as I was exiting a store. I stood sheepishly in front of the door to exit, I was expecting it to open and it didn’t. At first I thought maybe something was wrong with it. I looked around the door and then at the door itself. Push, spelt out the action required…so I pushed open the door, feeling very stupid. As the door opened, to my right was another gentleman standing there waiting for the door to open. He looked at me and we both started to laugh, as he pulled the door open and entered the store. This event got me thinking about life, and how we live our lives. Do we pray, read our Bibles, go to church because we are conditioned or is it something more? You see I have come to the conclusion many of us live a “religious” life because we are conditioned. “It’s the way I was raised”, someone might say. Many of us feel its right, we feel better about the world around us, and it satisfies something deep in our being. But didn’t, Jesus talk about more than going through the steps, isn’t following “Christ” more than filling blocks. Jesus said,”Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus gave his life for more than “religion”, more than just showing up Sunday morning. He is talking about friendship, building a friendship requires time. It requires sacrificing our time and investing into someone else. Having a relationship with Christ has to come from the heart and requires us to sacrifice our time. You’re thinking I’m so busy I don’t have time…here is a thought…if it is important to you, you will make time. Here is my challenge, start with 5 minutes. In the morning, prayerfully read a chapter in the Bible for 5 minutes, prayerfully seek a closer walk with Christ. It’s a New Year, take the challenge and see the difference it makes in your life.

-ps