“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)
For a magazine article, Christians were asked to name the source of their greatest spiritual challenges. Spiritual laziness made fourth place on that list (“Discipleship Journal” Issue 11-12). Many Christians find it difficult to remain spiritually engaged. The time or effort you spend reading your Bible, doing mission work, praying, and so many other godly things may wane over time. For some, the busier life becomes, the more spiritually lazy your attitude. For others, spiritual boredom occurs when they have lots of time but no desire to pursue godly works.
When Joseph went to church camp at age seventeen, he was mesmerized by all he learned of Jesus. He had not really read the Bible before that week at camp. He had never truly made a commitment to Jesus. That all changed during that wonderful, revelatory, grace-infused week! Joseph went to the altar during an outdoor service and dedicated his life to Christ.
In the weeks after Joseph came home from camp that year, he made some big changes. He attended worship each week. He started attending a Bible Study for teens. That fall, with Joseph’s input, the youth group helped elderly with home and yard work. The group took a weekend to paint the “freezer room” at a food pantry. They also co-sponsored a retreat with another church youth group. Joseph felt “on fire” for God! His faith was growing by leaps and bounds. His prayer life was filled with passionate conversation with God.
Fast forward two years.
During his second year at college, Joseph found himself drained. He was depressed. His relationship with his girlfriend Carol was exciting. They talked about serious commitment, even marriage and children. Joseph’s days were filled with full-time classwork, then a couple of hours of work in the evenings. He would study a few hours before bedtime. Sometimes, he would meet with Carol for lunch. Mostly, they spent every weekend together going for walks, eating out, seeing a movie, or other little dates. But Joseph felt very tired. The hours of classwork, homework, his job, and the relationship were taking their toll on his mind and heart and body. During spring break, he took some time to travel with Carol. They stayed at a hotel in Florida for five days. Still, Joseph felt tired, even after the time away. His last night in Florida, as he watched the sunset, he thought to himself, “Everything is going so well in my life, so why do I feel tired and empty all the time?”
Over the next few weeks, Joseph pondered his life choices. He did have a lot of responsibilities, but he felt something was missing. When he looked at the Bible next to his bed one night, it hit him. He had been neglecting God. His prayers for months had been rushed and short. He had not been attending worship, choosing to sleep in most Sunday mornings instead of going to worship. Instead of opening up his heart to talk with God, he opened up and talked to his girlfriend. He was so busy; he didn’t take time to reflect on his relationship with God. He had not done anything for God in months. When a group of college students did some work for a homeless shelter seeking volunteers and a friend invited him to a Bible Study, Joseph declined helping, saying he was too busy to devote his time to either.
For Joseph, when his life became busy, his spiritual life faltered.
On the other hand, Joseph’s girlfriend was different. Carol lived at home with her parents. She worked part time at a clinic, filing and answering phones. While Joseph was busy with school and homework, Carol often went online chatting with people through instant messaging, texting on her phone with friends, and going out with her “best buds”. Carol’s life was much less hectic than Joseph’s. She had much more free time. Though she too was very close to God and active in her church in High School, now she was busy doing other things. She enjoyed her friends and family time, but she had neglected her spiritual life. She seldom prayed unless a friend had a serious illness or someone close was going through a difficult time. She doodled in a notebook for hours and made thousands of posts online, yet Carol seldom cracked open her Bible for inspiration.
Carol was coasting through life. While she had lots of time to do things for God, she hardly shared any of it doing mission work, Bible study, prayers, or even worship.
Both Joseph and Carol are losing their passion for Jesus. Sadly, they have yet to change their priorities.
The scripture for today contains valuable wisdom for you to ponder. The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 that Christians were “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. Paul ends the verse by claiming that the faithful “should walk” in good works. We should practice them regularly. It is part of being faithful. It is part of loving Jesus.
It is all too easy to fall into a rut. Some people fall into ruts of work/eat/sleep/repeat without taking time to fit God in throughout the day. Other people fall into a routine when they fill their free time with hobbies or sports or entertainment or computer games or social media without realizing that these “time sucks” will often take the place of God time. There are many ways to fail to do “good works” for Christ Jesus.
The scripture is clear that any healthy relationship with Christ Jesus is destined to produce “good works”. When Joseph was excited about his relationship with Jesus, his life was filled with missions and Bible study and prayer time and more. But when Joseph’s life became filled with other obligations, good works fell away. For Carol, the lure of social media and friends and Joseph kept her from passionate good works for Christ Jesus. Despite having the time to commit, she filled her hours with computer time and dating instead of God time.
Is there a time of year that you become more spiritually lazy? Do you ever forget to spend time with God? When was the last time you devoted yourself to some mission work God sent your way? How much devotion do you give to Jesus? You were “created for good works”. Your faith needs desperately to have outlets like prayer time, Bible study, worship, intercession, and mission work. Without good works, your passion for Jesus wanes. Your life will become spiritually stunted. Your enjoyment of God with God will fade.
What good works for Christ Jesus might fire up your faith today or this week? Pray about it! Look for it! You were chosen for this!
When Joseph went to church camp at age seventeen, he was mesmerized by all he learned of Jesus. He had not really read the Bible before that week at camp. He had never truly made a commitment to Jesus. That all changed during that wonderful, revelatory, grace-infused week! Joseph went to the altar during an outdoor service and dedicated his life to Christ.
In the weeks after Joseph came home from camp that year, he made some big changes. He attended worship each week. He started attending a Bible Study for teens. That fall, with Joseph’s input, the youth group helped elderly with home and yard work. The group took a weekend to paint the “freezer room” at a food pantry. They also co-sponsored a retreat with another church youth group. Joseph felt “on fire” for God! His faith was growing by leaps and bounds. His prayer life was filled with passionate conversation with God.
Fast forward two years.
During his second year at college, Joseph found himself drained. He was depressed. His relationship with his girlfriend Carol was exciting. They talked about serious commitment, even marriage and children. Joseph’s days were filled with full-time classwork, then a couple of hours of work in the evenings. He would study a few hours before bedtime. Sometimes, he would meet with Carol for lunch. Mostly, they spent every weekend together going for walks, eating out, seeing a movie, or other little dates. But Joseph felt very tired. The hours of classwork, homework, his job, and the relationship were taking their toll on his mind and heart and body. During spring break, he took some time to travel with Carol. They stayed at a hotel in Florida for five days. Still, Joseph felt tired, even after the time away. His last night in Florida, as he watched the sunset, he thought to himself, “Everything is going so well in my life, so why do I feel tired and empty all the time?”
Over the next few weeks, Joseph pondered his life choices. He did have a lot of responsibilities, but he felt something was missing. When he looked at the Bible next to his bed one night, it hit him. He had been neglecting God. His prayers for months had been rushed and short. He had not been attending worship, choosing to sleep in most Sunday mornings instead of going to worship. Instead of opening up his heart to talk with God, he opened up and talked to his girlfriend. He was so busy; he didn’t take time to reflect on his relationship with God. He had not done anything for God in months. When a group of college students did some work for a homeless shelter seeking volunteers and a friend invited him to a Bible Study, Joseph declined helping, saying he was too busy to devote his time to either.
For Joseph, when his life became busy, his spiritual life faltered.
On the other hand, Joseph’s girlfriend was different. Carol lived at home with her parents. She worked part time at a clinic, filing and answering phones. While Joseph was busy with school and homework, Carol often went online chatting with people through instant messaging, texting on her phone with friends, and going out with her “best buds”. Carol’s life was much less hectic than Joseph’s. She had much more free time. Though she too was very close to God and active in her church in High School, now she was busy doing other things. She enjoyed her friends and family time, but she had neglected her spiritual life. She seldom prayed unless a friend had a serious illness or someone close was going through a difficult time. She doodled in a notebook for hours and made thousands of posts online, yet Carol seldom cracked open her Bible for inspiration.
Carol was coasting through life. While she had lots of time to do things for God, she hardly shared any of it doing mission work, Bible study, prayers, or even worship.
Both Joseph and Carol are losing their passion for Jesus. Sadly, they have yet to change their priorities.
The scripture for today contains valuable wisdom for you to ponder. The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 that Christians were “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. Paul ends the verse by claiming that the faithful “should walk” in good works. We should practice them regularly. It is part of being faithful. It is part of loving Jesus.
It is all too easy to fall into a rut. Some people fall into ruts of work/eat/sleep/repeat without taking time to fit God in throughout the day. Other people fall into a routine when they fill their free time with hobbies or sports or entertainment or computer games or social media without realizing that these “time sucks” will often take the place of God time. There are many ways to fail to do “good works” for Christ Jesus.
The scripture is clear that any healthy relationship with Christ Jesus is destined to produce “good works”. When Joseph was excited about his relationship with Jesus, his life was filled with missions and Bible study and prayer time and more. But when Joseph’s life became filled with other obligations, good works fell away. For Carol, the lure of social media and friends and Joseph kept her from passionate good works for Christ Jesus. Despite having the time to commit, she filled her hours with computer time and dating instead of God time.
Is there a time of year that you become more spiritually lazy? Do you ever forget to spend time with God? When was the last time you devoted yourself to some mission work God sent your way? How much devotion do you give to Jesus? You were “created for good works”. Your faith needs desperately to have outlets like prayer time, Bible study, worship, intercession, and mission work. Without good works, your passion for Jesus wanes. Your life will become spiritually stunted. Your enjoyment of God with God will fade.
What good works for Christ Jesus might fire up your faith today or this week? Pray about it! Look for it! You were chosen for this!