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I’ve started a new blog at www.droppingtheact.com. Check it out for the latest content.
So…I’ll be honest. I don’t want to write this blog post. In fact, I haven’t wanted to write it for about a week now :). I started reading Francis and Lisa Chan’s new book You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity, and it’s wonderful! Really good stuff, I highly recommend it. But round about page 116, I started to get a little bit uncomfortable. He said, “Christians in America have become experts at conviction–and failures at action.” He went on to talk about an article that he read about people that weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds and that it made him think of the church. Interesting line of thought, huh? 🙂 Chan went on to say:
It (the article) reminded me of a lot of people I find in the church. They are fed more and more knowledge every week. They attend church services, join small group Bible studies, read Christian books, listen to podcasts–and are convinced they still need more knowledge. Truth is, their biggest need is to do something. They don’t need another feast on doctrine. They need to exercise. They need to work off what they’ve already consumed.
Yikes! I don’t know about you, but that hit me hard. As someone who grew up in church every Sunday and Wednesday I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge. But often I don’t apply it, especially the hard stuff (and boy did Jesus have some difficult things to say, definitely counter-cultural!). I read those passages and think Whew, that sounds really hard, surely Jesus doesn’t expect me to do that?! And I give myself a pass. The trouble is, he actually means what he said! Well, it’s trouble for me, not for him! 🙂 And the good news is that he’s promised that he will do it through me if I will just allow him! So today I’m praying that God will help me to examine my heart and stop ignoring the difficult things he’s asked me to do, and submit to his promise to work through me.
Is there anything that God has been speaking to you through his word that, like me, you’ve been ignoring because it seems too difficult or painful?
Erica Barthalow 