Day 5 – Familiarity

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'"
1 Peter 1:13-16

Have you ever been driving down a familiar stretch of road and at some point along the way realize that you have been zoned out for the last several miles, completely unaware of the road, the countryside and the other cars around you? Or have you ever been driving that road and doing 18 other things at once – drinking your coffee, changing the radio station, talking (or even worse, texting) on your cell phone, finishing breakfast, grabbing the book out of the back seat – only to be reengaged with the task of driving by the bumping sound of the lane divider, or the horn of the guy next as you inadvertently ease into his lane.

Maybe the saying is true; Familiarity breeds contempt.

Sometimes I wonder if that’s part of our struggle with our relationship with God. When we first come to faith, we tend to be excited about this new relationship and can’t wait to get to know about this God who loves us so much. We tell our friends about what has happened in our life and love the church that helped us discover this loving God and His plan for us. A few years later and God becomes the distant friend that we run to whenever things are really bad. We don’t tell anyone about our faith “so as not to offend them” and we keep finding fault in the church and the leadership because they aren’t doing things exactly the way we think they should. We are comfortable in our Christian bubbles and have become nice, moral people with no passion for God, for His Word and for His Church.

Familiarity.

Peter understands this concept and encourages us to be proactive in our relationship with God. According to the passage above, proactivity begins by preparing our minds for what God will do today in and through us. Do we have the mental commitment to say to God that we are available for action today wherever and whenever He might call us, no matter how it affects our schedule?

If we are going to be ready for action, we must learn to become self-controlled so that we are not loose canons driven by our emotions or sinful tendencies. As Paul says in the Scriptures, we bring our bodies under the authority and rule of Christ and we recognize that we are not our own, that we have been bought with a price, therefore we will honor God with our bodies.

Proactivity means we make it our vocation to become a people who are holy and not holier-than-thou. The word "holy" literally means that we are "set apart" for God and for His purposes. We don't want to be like the people Jesus spoke about who honor Him with their lips, but whose hearts are far from Him. God doesn’t need lip service. In the Scriptures it says, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” God's looking for someone today who will say, "let me be that one who is fully committed to you."

Be that person today!

As you pray today, reread the verses in 1 Peter above and allow these thoughts to prompt you in your conversation with God.

Thank God that He is actively pursuing His creation to bring them into proper relationship with Himself.
Ask God to help you to be mentally, physically and spiritually set apart for Him today.
Ask God to help you to be ready for Him to use you for His Kingdom whenever or wherever He needs you.
Surrender your schedule to His and surrender your plans and dreams for your life to His plans and dreams for you.
Thank Him that He is God, that He is in control and willingly submit yourself to Him and His authority in your life today.

Day 1 - In the beginning

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:1-3 (New International Version)

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.

Colossians 1:15-17 (The Message)

In the beginning…

The phrase alone gives hope. “In the beginning” suggests a time of fresh starts and clean slates. It’s a place where you can be anything you want to be without lugging around the oversized baggage of a fractured past. A blank page waiting to be written on. A fresh life waiting to be lived.

So it’s no wonder that God begins His book with “In the beginning…” He creates a brand new world that He quickly fills with earth and sky, water and land, flora and fauna. And then, towards the end of that first week, God creates man. The Bible teaches that God created man and woman “in His image.” It’s as though God is saying right from the start, “These people are important to me. I want them to have the capacity to know me and to be known by me.”

Value.

Meaning.

Purpose.

Long before the first couple rebelled against their Creator, God breathed into them a life filled with meaning. His desire is, and has always been, for His creation to know Him. In the seventeenth chapter of John’s testimony of Jesus, he records a prayer spoken by God’s Son. Jesus prays, " Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” Imagine – Jesus sums up all of eternal life, not with works or “right” behavior, but with knowing God and His Son Jesus.

As we begin this 21-day prayer journey, let’s begin with perspective. God’s desire is not that you pray as a means of getting things from God, though He has good gifts that He longs to give to His children. God’s desire is not that you learn a system of rules and regulations, though He has standards that He longs for His children to embrace. God’s primary desire in prayer is for us to spend time developing the relationship that we were created for “in the beginning.”

Also, as a means of support, you may find it helpful to have a friend, family member or co-worker keep you accountable during the next 21 days. Simply ask them to ask you each day for the next three weeks if you have prayed that day. Having someone to spur you on will help you accomplish your goal and, hopefully, develop a habit of prayer.

As you pray today, allow the following prompters to fuel your conversation with God.

• Spend some time thanking God for making you and giving you the capacity to know Him.
• Thank God for what Jesus did in restoring the relationship that was broken because of our sin.
• Ask God to help you view your life, your family, your job and your future from His perspective of value and purpose.
• Ask God to help you stay focused and on track through this 21-day journey.
• Ask God to give you someone to spur you on to completing this journey.
• Thank God for this time with Him and for going with you through the rest of your day.