The rest would say otherwise
and, as such, will tend to go through life gambling on getting to God at some
stage and then inevitably leaving it until it is too late.
Okay, so reconciling to
God and bringing Him into your life is, to me, a definite priority.
Indeed,
many counselors will make that a prerequisite, because it is a lost cause to
try and sort out the messes we get into,
if God is excluded – it is simply unsustainable.
God recognized that by
first taking the Jews out of Egypt to set them apart in their Wilderness
sojourn. So much for spirituality. It starts with a change of address.
However, it was soon
apparent that the Jews had a very limited concept of God. They were spiritually
naïve. Their stunt with the golden calf highlights a misconception of God. They
were also as willful as children and fell short of meaningful spirituality.
Guess what? Most of us
start there.
How on earth can “spirituality” precede “practicality”, when we
need a longer-term transformation of our lives.
So God set them to
work on building a framework for their fledgling faith. Similarly, every
believer today needs to acquire a spiritual framework. Likewise students master
pillars of knowledge, consolidates and integrate that, before adding the
experience that will lead to fulfillment.
It is like acquiring a
new boss and learning how to work with him. I once had a great boss who was a
seeing learner, but I kept on trying to verbalize my ideas. His eyes would
glaze over and we started to drift apart until I learnt how to work with him.
Well, I also needed to
learn how God works or face ongoing frustrations in my faith. I had to do more
than change address. I needed to renew my thinking.
That framework
involved a lot of very practical principles.
However, my spiritual
naivety got ahead of itself in terms of over-spiritualizing things, which
resulted in a low-key state of competition as in Paul’s, “those who seemed
spiritual among us”. It set the pace in terms of what was expected, but it
was like the blind leading the blind.
Sure we need a
spiritual motor, the drive or passion to advance in God. For many that is all
that neonatal spirituality requires, for God only needs our faith, or signature
of consent, so He can steer the moving vehicle. He can do little with a
stationery lump.
So as the Jews built
their framework, to the specifications provided by God, their faith started to
acquire shape, stature, and legs. It started to become real. Then, when the
concepts were fully formed, He left His mountain to indwell their tent (or
framework).
I put it to you that
too much spirituality in that phase, ends up
being a kind of opium.
It anesthetizes us from a deeper,
more compelling engagement of God, by settling us far short of the objectives
of our faith.
Thus, we end up in a
kind of halfway house, where we look the part and comply with expectations that
please men, rather than God, whilst living in the shallows. We feel good enough
because our yardstick is mutual admiration, not a divine plumb-line.
Now, don’t get me
wrong. The objective is not to then get more spiritual per se, to vent your guilt
on more activity, more meetings, more intensity and so on.
The objective is to reach the Promised Land.
Why remain as dependent children, when God offers a future defined by spiritual autonomy, where you can rise to your full height as a son of God,
subdue all that opposes that, till the land, plant your crops, and occupy His
promises.
It promises a future
that is fulfilling, meaningful, rich and vital – far removed from the veneered
spirituality that we so often use as our fig leaves. It is a place where God
dwells among us and we are fully grounded and centered in Him.
So much more to follow
…..
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