Pass the Salad

We serve a great God. He can do anything. There is no problem I face that He can't see me through. Our pastor has driven this point home several times - God is fighting for us and working on our behalf. We talked last week in class how God is working to redeem our lives, not just as a concept but the actual events and details of our lives. Despite this, there is a growing trend in our churches. Maybe not in our churches, but in many of us that attend them. It's called "salad bar Christianity"

We have a tendency to pick and choose among the attributes of God that we like best, just like we fill our plate at the Golden Corral. I like God to be merciful, so I make sure that I scoop plenty of that on my plate. The idea of a God who disciplines and corrects me as a loving Father? I will use the salad tongs and pick that out like I would pick out radishes. When I'm finished, I have a plate that looks appetizing by may not be giving me what I need. We are in such a habit of having what we want whenever we want it, that we sometimes lose sight of who God is. That's a big deal. How we view God is the most important thing in our lives. What we think and believe about him dictates our actions. We can have black coffee, a half caf nonfat soy latte with a shot of vanilla, cocoa powder and sprinkles or anything in between. Why shouldn't we have a God that suits our tastes? We tell ourselves that God wants us to be happy. When we buy into that (and it's a tempting thing to do) we start searching for a made to order god. But that's not how it works with God. He's not made to order. A god that we are in control of is no God at all. Instead He has ordered what's made. He's not a candidate running for office, He's a king ruling his kingdom.

To be a part of His kingdom is to allow him to rule over the entirety of our life. The challenge is this - Are we doing that? Is everything in our life bowed to His will? I heard this question asked and was convicted by how truthfully I wanted to answer. The truth is that I don't always want to bow every part of my life to his will - mostly because it would cost me something. Here's what I'd like you to do...

As an anonymous responder, post what it is that hasn't bowed before Him. This is not a trick to figure out who struggles with what. Instead it's an exercise in honesty. Can we be honest enough with ourselves to type out in a couple of sentences what we hold on to that keeps us from getting deeper into the presence of God. I'd go first, but then it wouldn't be very anonymous. So you'll just have to trust me when I say that I'll post mine as well. I'll try not to make it obvious by saying something about science and/or sports.