Going through the motions with God

This month I am celebrating two joyous occasions. Today I celebrate my 5 year anniversary with the Lord. On August 14, 2007 I committed my life to Christ on that day my adventure began. In 4 days I also celebrate my 11 year marriage with my beautiful wife Beth who has filled my life with joy and laughter. To celebrate the two joyous events I want to share a new story with you all.

Do you remember the time when you first started dating your spouse? Do you remember the amount of time you prepared to get ready, the amount of time you spent trying to impress them? Then the big day came, they said, “I do!” And then it wasn’t long before things began to change. You didn’t work so hard to impress them. The amount of time you focused on them diminished. You got so comfortable that you felt like you didn’t have to work so hard on the relationship. You just began going through the motions of everyday life.

Yes, sadly I can truly relate to the above scenario in my own marriage. I can also say that most recently I’ve noticed it in my relationship with God.

Today I find myself examining my journey and find that lately I’ve just been going through the motions with Him. I continue to pray and read my Bible daily, I go to church on Sundays, Bible study on Fridays but at the same time my fervency in my time with Him has wavered.

There was a time in my walk with the Lord that I would rise early every day and begin praying and writing out my thoughts. God’s word was doing such a work in my life that I couldn’t wait to share what I had learned.

I look back at the last few months and realize that I haven’t been taking the time to actually sit with God. I would just go through the motions in the morning rushing to get my day started. I would pray sporadically, but I never sat down much to listen.

I’ve learned in my own marriage that I could just go through the motions and remain married. If my goal was to just be married with a subpar relationship then going through the motions would suffice. But I don’t want a subpar relationship with my wife. I want an Extraordinary marriage. A marriage filled with joy, laughter, and adventure. Because that is what I desire than I have to check myself regularly to see if I am nourishing an Extraordinary marriage. One of the main ways for me to feed an Extraordinary marriage is sitting down to listen to my wife. You see by sitting down and actually listening to her; not talking but listening; I can hear her heart. When I can hear her heart than I can win her heart.

In my attempts to get more accomplished in my day I’ve found myself skipping the listening part with God. I would pray and then on my way. I never gave God the opportunity to speak to me. I wanted God to hear my heart but I neglected to hear His.

Just as I am unwilling to settle for a subpar relationship with my wife I will not settle for a mediocre relationship with God. So today as I celebrate my commitment to the Lord I will begin again and make the effort to sit and listen to the heart of the Great I AM, the one who breathed life in me this morning.

I pray that you too choose and Extraordinary life and take the time to examine it, because it’s been said that what you can measure you can improve.