In his classic book Knowing God, J.I. Packer said, "One can know a great deal of godliness without much knowledge of God." (26)
We're in an age of getting things done. With all the amenities that 2023 brings us, we are able to do most anything we want at any time of day we want. Gone are the days of waiting even 2 days for an Amazon order to ship to your door. Where our church is in Fairfield, Ohio, we can get most anything by the next morning if we pay $25 or more. What a time to be alive!
However, there is good reason to believe that all the conveniences we have today are more of a hurt than a help. We're able to get everything that we think needs done accomplished quicker and more efficiently than we ever have been able to before, but our souls are hurting because of it.
Psalm 46:10 famously says: "Be still and know that I am God." God, who has been around since before the world started, values silence, slowness, and reflection more than he does efficiency and speed. Jesus himself while on the Earth spent hours upon hours by himself in prayer and meditation with God the Father. I know that, if I was in Jesus' place of power, I would be doing a lot more acting and a lot less praying.
Maybe this is you too. Our natural tendency is to "go, go, go", but God ultimately created us to "be" in him. Colossians 3:16 says: "Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly..." In the same way, as Jesus said in Matthew 11, "Come to me... and I will give you rest."
It all comes down to a question of identity. If we are left to our own devices and effort to make our life count, then the logical end is for us to do the most we possibly can on Earth to lift ourself up and make our life count. We know by the Scriptures, however, that we cannot work our way to a life past this one. Christ is the only way to Heaven and eternal life. (John 14:6)
So, if our life and destiny is ultimately reliant on Christ, our fundamental identity will be in Him, because He has already accomplished our salvation and, by his death on the cross, bought our way to Heaven.
We will explore this more in the coming weeks, but this is why a lack of meditation on Christ is killing you in your spiritual life. We say we believe that Christ is our only hope, yet we spend none of our day with him. We think that we are Christians, but yet we ourselves drive our life's agenda and goals.
When this cognitive dissonance is made right, we will experience real peace, rest, and refreshment in our thoughts and feelings. When we try to live in both camps, we are led towards hypocrisy, anxiety, and separation from God.
So today, take a minute and think about what God has done for you, who He is, and why He deserves your very life. You will only find good things at the logical end of those thoughts.
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