on doing something “religiously”

the other day I had a chance to play my very own songs to a group of friendly folks at our local coffee shop. to say the least, I was excited. I composed most of these songs last year, and with babyland around here lately, I hadn’t practiced most of them in quite a while, to say nothing of making a set list, arranging the songs, burning CDs, etc etc. it was an otherwise busy week with various meetings and such between the 2 of us, so there wasn’t much time to prepare. but, since I was excited about all of this, I made the time. I simply stayed up late almost every night, and made do with a little less sleep during the week. I imagine my performance at work suffered a little, but in the grand scheme, no big deal. it’s been quite a while since I’ve done something “religiously” like that.

so it got me thinking, especially considering some of the stuff I’ve been reading about faith. if I believe that worshiping God and living for Him is the most important thing in life (and I do), then why don’t I DO it? why do I let my daily routines and my incessant laziness and selfishness dominate my life, leaving no room for the time it takes to seek God and listen to Him and live for Him?

could it be that I don’t value the things of God as much as, say, playing a few little songs? could it be that my daily unbelief is squelching the power of the Spirit that I have been given in Christ? could it be that I am so numb to my own sin that I think I’m OK without God today? could I have such a small view of God’s grace and mercy that I’ve ceased to be amazed?

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! “

please pray for me, and praise God for His abundant patience and kindness to me, and His leading me even in my stubornness.