On the Journey...

It has been about a month since I have posted here. A lot has happened. My wife, son, and I made a trip back to my parents' home in North Carolina. We spent a few nice days there. While in NC, I got to preach the 11am sermon at my home church, which is always an honor.

Then, we came back to GA, I worked a week, and then we took off on the first 7 day vacation we have had in 7 years! My wife, son, and I went with another couple from our church and their kids to the beach. We had an awesome time. Regardless of the oil concerns, we stayed in a condo on the gulf at Panama City Beach. We ate, played, hung out, and had a great time!!!

On vacation, I really achieved one immense goal...I cleared my head. I left the concerns of work, church, life, finances, and anything else that has been on my mind back in Georgia. I was truly able to give it up, clear my head, enjoy my time with family and friends, and truly relax, which I struggle with doing most of the time.

Today, I was back at my current church for the first time in three weeks. It was a good day, but Sunday School shook me hard. I teach the 18-30 year old class called, just as blog, "Generations Rising". At the beginning of the year, we began a study of the book of the Job where we just take it verse by verse, chapter by chapter, each week. Today, we covered Chapter 29.

If you have studied Job like this, you will understand Chapter 29. But like me and most people, I had never really studied the entire book of Job. I had done the traditional read Chapter 1 and 2, and then jump to chapter 38-42 and finish it out. So, I was not ready for Chapter 29.

The first six verses really act as a mirror to a Christian to see if you are reflecting who you should be in Christ. The very name "Christian" signifies that someone is "of" or "like" Christ. In Chapter 29, Job discusses how his walk with God used to be. Here it is in the NIV translation:

¹ Job continued his discourse:

² "How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,

³ when his lamp shone upon my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!

⁴ Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,

⁵ when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,

⁶ when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

After reading these verses, I wonder how many of us "Christians" can say that we feel this way about God, or can even remember these times in our life?

• Do we know that God is watching over us?
• Do we know that his lamp shines upon on head and lights our path, so we can make it through any trial that comes our way?
• Do we have the type of relationship with God that we can say "God's intimate friendship blessed my house"?
• Do we feel his blessings like Job describes in verse 6? (By the way, I may blog about these items in detail soon.)

For me, I could not say yes to these things. I know these things. I believe these things. But, I am missing that deep intimacy with God that brings these things to life, like Job describes. I am reminded that a relationship with God is like a relationship with anyone. It takes dedication, consistency, and time to grow and develop. Without continuous, true efforts, one will not grow in depth with God.

My challenge for you and I is that we take an active, intentional approach to developing our relationship with God. Prioritize it. Be disciplined and committed to it. Let's be a generation that rises to love, serve, and walk with our Lord, Jesus Christ, so we too can be "Christians" -- someone who is "of" and "like" Christ. Let's be disciples, so we can disciple others.

-- Brent