Yesterday was our last bible study. It was so nice outside that we took our McDonald’s breakfast out and sat in the grass of a squirel-filled park. We did a recap. of what we had seen this semester as we studied the book of Ephesians. I learned in a very concrete way that I am not a concrete girl in many ways. My friends could tell what they learned and stuff but I could hardly pinpoint anything concrete. I know I’ve been learning or realizing things, but nothing really new to me. I need instead to put into practice what I already know. But anyways, here’s something that made me think a bit yesterday.

I know that something I’ve noticed is that prayer is something that must be taken and done seriously. I feel like we’re playing with this weapon/strategies sometimes. It is so easy to fall into the routine of praying for this and that and be done. It’s so easy to pray without thinking about what we say either, not realizing that we’re talking to God, the creator of our souls. Praying can often be words that I pronounce to myself. But where’s the respect, awe, seriousness that should be part of all my prayers? I’m not saying that we should always be face to the ground and filled with awe. But if most of my prayers are routine-like, without real realization that I am talking to God, yes God, then there’s some seriousness lacking I think. I am told that seriousness in prayer can make big differences in our lives.

I don’t like doing things I don’t like to do. I don’t like saying “no” to my desires and do things in a different way, a way that I don’t like so much, putting aside my own will. God asks me to do that all the time almost and I don’t like that. Sometimes I feel that I’m just a big nerd or so boring because I say “no” to what my sinful nature wants or what the world thinks I should be doing or saying or whatnot. Some parts of life, oh yes, can seem to be boring for a Christian who simply wants to follow in the footsteps of Christ. We all know that we, as Christians, are called to obey God and stive to become like Jesus, putting on the armour He’s providing us with. It’s sometimes heavy to carry and we might look funny in the eyes of those who are in the world, but we keep up the good labour.

A passage that encourages me a lot is found in Isaiah 56:3-7. I won’t write it here, but it’s about the foreigner and the eunuch complaining that they won’t be received by God (foreigner) and that they’re just a dry trees (eunuch). But God tells them that no matter who they are and their reputation here on earth, if they keep His sabbaths, choose what pelases Him, hold fast to His covenant, God will reward them and give them much more than they could have hoped for. To the eunuch in particular God promises “a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters … an everlasting name” within His temple and its walls.

 Obeying God in spite of the difficulties and what our sinful nature tells us and discourages us with, is worth it. We ought to be serious in our walk with Jesus and be ready to pay the cost God calls us to pay. It’s all about His glory.