The year is flying! Catch it while you still can.
This week I realised how in the past I’d listen to songs, decide I don’t like it and then end up listening to them later. There not terrible songs, but over time my taste changes. For instance, I am listening to a Christian song, but maybe it uses a different beat, interesting backtrack etc. You see this isn’t bad, the Christian song. But I realise how we can easily be susceptible to listening to certain songs. The more we listen to a type of song the more we will grow a liking to it – mostly. It’s like with food and drink; our taste buds change and therefore we eat and drink new things. Like for me coffee is one thing! Though I couldn’t say I love it, but it’s not as bad as when I first had a sip.
Just like a basic scenario of music and coffee, we can build this sensitivity or numbness to things. In the context when things are bad for us, but we don’t realise because we think it’s normal or we don’t recognise it.
Similarly, in the Bible cannot pick and choose books because one makes us feel better. This is like how I mentioned before with taste buds, but here it’s on feeling. Not everything that feels bad (aka gym – which you’ll be glad I got my membership and started going), is indeed bad. Like for instance vegetables, not always taste great but it’s good for you. Just like Spiritually we feed ourselves with the Word of God.
There is a reason God has every book inside the Bible. Created the way it is. Have our taste buds changed the way we intake His Word? It shouldn’t. There’s one God, and we cannot pick and choose. It’s all of Him or nothing.
This week I was also thinking how in life us changing is a process and we cannot speed it up – well not eggs-actly! See when you bake a cake or cook steak, most times the only way to make it cook quicker is turning up the heat. But it doesn’t change the fact that, the cake or steak needs time in the oven or BBQ – time to slowly heat up and make changes – rise and cook. I learnt this even with my nits! Which I haven’t had in 5+ years and realise now that little things, like lice in your head, can distract and irritate you. How easy the little things on our mind, get in the way of life. And eliminating the lice was a process (we got them on the early stages, so that’s a plus). We couldn’t expect all the nits, since they have a cycle, to leave my scalp with just a single treatment. No! See, it required a process, and re-doing the process. And I am so thankful for my mum, see last week I managed fixing something without my dad, but my hair called for my mum’s help.
This links back to a few weeks ago when I burnt my toast. Not only did the bread burn, but I left it, and it cooled down completely. See its one to burn the bread and it’s another to have the bread toasted in the first place only to end up being a waste when it cooled down. See the butter didn’t melt! In life we can be rushing, changing the process and as a result we have not very tasteful food. Slow cooked meat is tender and falls off the bone. The many hours cooking is worth the wait. But in life, logically making it hotter makes sense – that it would be quicker and same result. But unfortunately, that’s just not the case. Slowly building on habits, time with God – unseen at first, but you’ll see the reward later.
There’s a reason a cake recipe might say bake for 2 hours at a certain temperature. Like with our faith. God gives us everything in His Word. Not a manual for a relationship – like spend 30 minutes a day in Genesis on this verse and afterwards you’ll know all there is to know about God. But our recipe to know God, is the Bible but the time given is our whole life! We have our whole life to get to know Him more and more [2 Peter 3:18]. Like a spouse or when dating, you don’t ever stop learning something about them. You could never say one day, “Yep, I finally know everything about you.” With God also. In the past I limited God to my Sunday, and even now I need to catch myself if I think what I knew before is all there is to know about God. In fact, He is limitless, vast and heck He knows way, way, way more than you and I – cuz He created Earth and everything in it. There’s sure a lot, like really a lot we can learn from Him and about Him. And He wants us to know Him.
We cannot put a time limit on knowing Him, but it does take one to start reading the recipe to start the process. Bearing in mind, the process is repetitive, but don’t stop it because then the flame will die out. It will grow cold like my toast. It was likely on fire at a time but then grew cold. Yours and my relationship with Creator God must always be fanning the flame of our hearts.
God, You Amaze Me!
E
2 Peter 3:18 NIV
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
God who is our flame
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