SCRIPTURE: “Seek, and ye shall find.” Luke 11:9
OSWALD: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” Are you thirsty, or smugly indifferent – so satisfied with your experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a gateway, not an end. Beware of building your faith on experience, the metallic note will come in at once, the censorious note. You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make him homesick for what you have.”
MY THOUGHT: Oh, how I love that last sentence: “You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make him homesick for what you have.” I have to wonder… does my life awaken a hunger for more of God in other people or do they simply consider me a nice person who happens to live a nice, upstanding life?
Their response may depend largely upon the freshness of the bread in my basket.
Nothing’s less appetizing to me than stale bread. I like saving money, but you’ll never find me in Eddy’s Bakery Outlet picking up two-week old bread to feed my family. No, I’m the annoying woman who digs to the back of Safeway’s bakery shelf squeezing loaves as I go in order to find the softest one, then taking even more time comparing dates on multiple packages to make sure it’s the freshest bread as well.
Unfortunately, when it comes to my spiritual diet, I’m not as picky as I should be. Too often I live on yesterday’s revelation or last week’s sermon rather than going to the Word for fresh manna each day. I’ve been known to be so enamored with last year’s mountaintop moment and spiritual high that I don’t seek to hear what God wants to speak to my heart today. As a result, I can become so satisfied with past experiences that my spiritual hunger is dulled; so complacent in my Christianity that as Oswald says, I “want nothing more of God.”
I need fresh bread in my basket, Lord. I want a living, vibrant walk with You that isn’t based on spiritual encounters from my past (though wonderful!) – but flows from an encounter with Your presence each and every day. Releasing, somehow, the “fragrance of Christ” to those around me. Making them hungry and thirsty for something more – Someone more.
Creating in them a homesickness for a place, that while they may never have visited, they instinctively know they somehow belong.
So, how do you keep your relationship “fresh” with the Lord? What do you think of Oswald’s statement: “Beware of building your faith on experience, the metallic note will come in at once, the censorious note”? I’d love to hear from you….