How has your study been coming? ************I hope the video yesterday wasn't too long... again (if it was, the notes included in the post pretty much sum it up and might be quicker to read!) I got nervous recording this one and followed my script TOO well, hoping it would help cut down on time.... but, sadly, it did not. I'll keep working on it!
My gratitude reflection today comes from our focus verse for this week:
Therefore,
as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built
up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6-7
My gratitude... in this topic is such a rich and beautiful memory. When I rededicated my life to Christ I was part of a church which did not have a ton of rules and restrictions on parishioner involvement. This may be detrimental in some situations.... but in mine, it was liberating. I had so much freedom to explore and flex and learn. When a Sunday school teaching position opened up, I didn't let my lack of experience hinder me. Rather, I used it as a cause to learn MORE. I dug deep into God's Word to be more than prepared for each lesson. It wasn't enough, in my mind, to just go in and read the lesson to the kids and tell them what to color or cut out. No, I wanted to get-it so I could more deeply give-it.
My appetite became insatiable and one day, while reading a particular passage, I became disturbed: fear God was what my Bible said in black and white and I didn't understand. I didn't want to be afraid of God... what did this mean? I had heard this phrase my whole life and, through the fire and brimstone church I knew as a child, it represented wrath and condemnation. I queried over how I had been delivered from that in salvation... where did fear come in? I had to understand.
So I pulled out a Bible concordance and began to dig. I unlocked something wonderful that day: contextually speaking, fear was merely a word representing respect, awe, and wonder. I was nearly bursting with delight to learn, for.the.first.time, that God didn't want me afraid of him, he merely wanted me to respect Him, to be in awe of Him... and oh, I was! I realized in that moment how deep God's Word could be. I knew I had a lifetime of study ahead... study which would never grow cold but would constantly feed and grow me. I understood, that day, what it really meant to grow in Christ and at His feet because I didn't need anyone to tell me what I had learned... I just needed a ready heart, willing to find out the hard (or easy) answers to the tough questions I had.
This fills me with Thanksgiving. To be here typing to you today, to have this Bible study out there on the net, all rooted in that one moment when my faith really became established and rooted in the Word of God.
What are you thankful for as the result of walking, rooted, and/or built up in Christ this week?
Blessings,
Post your own Gratitude Reflections this week, share the button and share your post in comments below and/or on my Facebook page! Let us encourage each other this week.
Start a gratitude leaf theme for yourself or with your children using construction paper OR this free printable (you can cut them out too!). You can find display inspiration in last Friday's post:
No comments:
Post a Comment