Rest in Your Relationship with God

Always remember why you’re doing what you do. Don’t substitute activity for relationship. Nothing you do for God is more important than your relationship with God. While my focus here has been on obeying the Word, we tend to add on many other things in the name of serving God. Did the Bible say to do it? Or is someone pressuring you to do it?

We can easily think doing more for God makes us a better Christian. That’s simply not true. Jesus said, “On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” (Matthew 7:22-23). Clearly, doing things for God is no substitute for a relationship with God.

Rather than increasing our activity, we rely on God’s strength to do the things that matter and let go of the things that don’t matter. Ask God to give you an eternal perspective on life. Let eternity, not the temporary things of this world, shape your priorities.

God does not place heavy burdens on us. He will not give us more than we can bear. Often, when we feel burdened, it is because we have taken on too much for ourselves—things He never asked us to take on.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Take time to rest in your relationship with God. Slow down and savor the aroma of chocolate.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Applying the Bible to Our Lives: Marathon

A marathon requires endurance training. So does obedience to God. As the Bible says, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eye on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

This life is a marathon. We are going to get tired. It’s going to take endurance. We certainly don’t need to make it more difficult on ourselves by carrying unnecessary weight with us. Do you have any sin that hinders your progress, slows you down, or wears you out? Get rid of it!

Endurance training is difficult. We may feel like it’s too difficult at times. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Remember everything He endured and “then you won’t become weary and give up” (Hebrews 12:3). Hang in there! It’s a marathon.

Discipline is part of any training. “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees” (Hebrews 12:11-12). When following God makes you weak and tired, get a grip!

In short, “athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules” (2 Timothy 2:5). Keep on following the Word of God and trust that your reward is waiting for you in heaven.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Applying the Bible to Our Lives: Repetitions

Part of exercise involves repetition. The same is true of God’s chocolate workout. As we put the Bible to work in our lives, it’s not enough to do what it says once; we have to keep on doing it. Several things come into play here.

First, we need to read the whole Bible and not just familiar passages. We need to read it regularly and repeatedly. There is no race. You don’t have to follow a particular schedule. In fact, sometimes the schedule can get in the way. Forget the schedule. Don’t read the Bible as a duty or an item to check off your to-do list every day. Read the Bible because you enjoy a relationship with the Author. Every word is a love-letter to you, so read it all.

Second, we need to stop reading the Bible to pat ourselves on the back in areas where we are already obeying it. Rather, we need to expand our horizons and challenge ourselves to obey in new areas all the time.

Third, we need to stop applying the Bible to everyone else. Look to your own heart and life and you will find plenty of areas where you need to apply the Bible. Do those.

Fourth, we get better at anything with practice and that includes applying God’s Word to our lives and obeying it.

Fifth, appraise your spiritual health. We don’t grow if we don’t know what we need: “Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves” (Romans 12:3) and “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching” (1 Timothy 4:16).

Repetition encourages us to continue. As with physical health, we need both food and exercise. Food provides energy. Expending energy makes us tired and hungry so we go back for more food. Feed yourself on more of God’s Word and obey. Your hunger for God’s Word grows in proportion to your obedience. The more you obey, the more you will repeat this process.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Applying the Bible to Our Lives: Sweat

I’d probably enjoy exercise more if it didn’t involve sweat, but there’s no way around it. You just have to do it. Obeying God is no different. God’s workout involves activity. Knowing God’s Word is not enough; we have to do it.

Don’t settle for knowledge rather than experience. Would you rather read about chocolate or experience it? Yeah, me, too. We can read God’s Word, but we won’t experience it until we do it. We need to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers:

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it (James 1:22-25).

The Bible is like a mirror that reflects our lives for us to see. A mirror shows us we need to straighten our hair, so we comb it. The Bible shows us that we need to straighten our lives, so we need to obey. Unfortunately, many times we walk away and completely forget (or ignore) what we learned in the Bible. However, if you do what it says, “God will bless you for doing it.” That makes it worth the sweat.

When God’s goodness comes out of every pore of our being (like sweat), obedience isn’t an act, but a natural way of living. That’s what we’re after.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Applying the Bible to Our Lives: Cardio

When you get your heart involved and not just your head, you develop an exciting passion for God’s chocolate, the Bible. So how do we get our heart involved? I’ve partially answered this already.

Studying the Bible gives us knowledge of the truth, but meditating on God’s Word helps us to engage the truth in a more holistic way, allowing the truth to sink into the soil of our hearts. The final step to experiencing God’s Word is to do it.

“Just Do It” might be a popular workout motto, but it doesn’t work so well with spiritual obedience. That’s because forcing ourselves to obey God out of discipline or duty doesn’t reflect a life that’s been transformed by God’s Word.

The act of obeying God can be a mere cognitive decision to do so. This kind of superficial obedience does not produce notable change in our lives. To keep ourselves from rote obedience, we need to lead with the heart.

When we fail to engage our hearts, our obedience is mere legalism: obeying because someone told us to do it. While there might be something commendable about blind obedience as an act of faith, that’s generally for exceptional circumstances or areas where we are weak with doubt.

If we develop a passion for God and His Word, like our passion for chocolate, we will be eager to do what God wants us to do because it’s what we want, too. We won’t grudgingly give to the poor because God says so; we will generously give to the poor because our heart overflows with love and compassion for people. We won’t force ourselves to stop gossiping; we will become protective of the lives, feelings, and reputations of others who aren’t present because God loves them.

God’s Word changes our hearts. As our heart begins to beat in time with the heart of the Lord, the result is going to feel so natural it won’t seem like obedience at all. It will just become who we are.

As you read the Bible, listen for God’s heartbeat. God’s cardio program will look something like this:

1. Read the Bible.
2. Ask God to change your heart.
3. Step out of your comfort zone.
4. Pay attention to the results over time.

Let God’s cardio program work on your life and gradually (or sometimes in fits and starts) you will see the results of God’s cardio program. You’ll feel better than ever before.

You have nothing to lose except pounds of selfishness, but you’ll gain spiritual fitness and a tender heart.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Applying the Bible to Our Lives: Stretching

For some of us, stretching amounts to reaching for that chocolate donut. That’s as much stretching as we are comfortable doing.

Stretching is usually uncomfortable and sometimes even painful. Physical stretching exercises loosen up muscles, preparing them for action. We do this to prevent injury. To bend without resistance is not a stretch.

Stretching, by its very definition, involves extending beyond what is comfortable. To stretch to the point of resistance and quit is of no benefit either. To attain the full benefit of a stretching exercise, you must reach the point of resistance and hold it at that point. Eventually, the tension subsides and greater flexibility occurs. Stretching allows blood to move into the tissues that were previously restricted.

Do you see the amazing spiritual parallels here? Spiritual stretching—through obedience to God’s Word—makes us ready for action and prevents spiritual injury. Stretching increases flexibility for future activity, strengthens our lives for additional endurance, and allows the life-giving blood of Christ to enter new areas of our lives.

Yes, sometimes the Bible is challenging. The Bible makes us uncomfortable and we wonder if we are really supposed to obey it. We try to rationalize and justify our reasons for not obeying. However, when we do stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zone to obey God in a new way, we find amazing benefits of the stretching experience. Obedience makes us feel invigorated and alive just as exercise makes us feel invigorated and alive.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

Applying the Bible to Our Lives: Motivation

It takes some motivation to exercise, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, the operating the remote control doesn’t work for exercise; you have to get off the couch and do something. Chocolate might be worth getting off the couch for, don’t you think?

By this point, we’ve learned how to study the Bible and meditate on it, which really implants God’s Word deep into our lives. As James says, “Humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls” (James 1:21). This word implanted in our lives is an expression of deeply knowing God’s Word and experiencing it through doing it.

Paul encouraged Titus to teach others to obey God’s Word so “they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way” (Titus 2:10). That doesn’t mean Christianity is something we put on to wear to church because it looks good. (Unfortunately, there are people who do that!) That’s like wearing an expensive jogging suit that has never been sweaty. (People do that, too!)

When it comes to the Bible, a lot of our motivation problem has to do with relevance. Many people feel that much of the Bible is not relevant for their lives. We wonder, What does that have to do with me? When the answer is not apparent, it is easy to lose interest and close the Bible.

How do we find relevance in the Bible? After all, certain portions of the Bible seem like ancient history that could seem archaic, out-of-date, and out-of-touch with contemporary society.

I tend to believe people find relevance in the Bible by first doing the things that are obvious and clear. Rather than focusing on the parts we don’t understand and using them as an excuse to reject the whole thing or let ourselves off the hook from obeying any of it, we would do well to put to good use what we do understand.

I’ve found that obeying parts of the Bible, especially the parts that stretch me beyond my comfort zone, excites me enough to want to try more. It whets the appetite and creates a craving. Obedience quickens the pulse and prepares the heart for more activity. Think of it like a warm-up.

Moreover, obeying what you know the Bible asks of you keeps you from sin: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (James 4:17).

A person cannot live with a total disregard for exercise and suddenly expect to find motivation to get off the couch, get sweaty, and experience pain.

Likewise, a person cannot live with a total disregard for obeying God’s Word and suddenly expect to find motivation to get off the couch and get sweaty for God, so to speak. Obedience takes some effort.

We hear God’s Word, but we aren’t really listening if we refuse to act on it: “You see and recognize what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don’t really listen” (Isaiah 42:20).

This hits close to home for all of us. We all have areas where we are reluctant to obey God’s Word. That’s just the reality of growing as a Christian. As we grow, we will find it easier to obey in more areas. But growth is important. That’s why we need to stretch ourselves.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.

 

God’s Chocolate Workout: Applying the Bible to Our Lives

In addition to a chocolate diet that motivates us to eat and digest God’s Word, we can also enjoy the healthy benefits of a chocolate workout.

I’m sure you’d agree that any workout would be much more enjoyable if chocolate were involved. I’d stay on the treadmill much longer if there were a huge chocolate donut dangling in front of me (sorry, carrots don’t cut it). If I got a bite of the donut after each mile, I’d probably stay on the treadmill longer and put in more miles without even realizing it.

God’s workout plan for us involves applying the Bible to our lives and doing what it says. We need to “work it out,” so to speak. These aren’t mechanical exercises that get you nowhere (like running on a treadmill); applying God’s Word to real-life situations takes us places we never dreamed.

It doesn’t do us any good to read and study the Bible if we don’t do what it says. Many people stop short of this step because obedience isn’t easy. In fact, obedience can be downright uncomfortable. That’s the nature of exercise, isn’t it? However, a little chocolate can make all the difference.

This is an excerpt from Sweeter Than Chocolate: Developing a Healthy Addiction to God’s Word. Used by permission.