Power Source

Every night, before I go to bed, I plug my cell phone into the charger and put it on my nightstand. As a woman of the 21st century, my phone has become my camera, my computer, my calculator, my library and most importantly - my alarm clock.  I rely on that phone by the bed to make sure I get up on time in the morning to prepare to head out to my job at a local elementary school.

After I am up and moving in the morning, sometimes I'll stop to take a quick look at the weather or my email.  One morning last week, when I looked down at the screen, I was surprised to find that the power percentage on the phone was in the single digit numbers.  How could this be?  I'd had it plugged in all night!

After doing a little investigating I found that although I had the phone plugged into the charger, the charger wasn't plugged into the power strip on the floor beside the bed.  I have no clue how or when the plug became dislodged from the outlet, but it certainly explained why my phone was nearly dead first thing in the morning.

My life is a little like that cell phone sometimes.  I'll plug it into things that I think are beneficial to me, like church activities or listening to praise music in the background when I'm doing something around the house, and expect those things to give me spiritual nourishment.  Those things can be edifying to us, but if we're just going through religious motions and we don't have our hearts truly focused on God, then those activities are not "plugged in" to the true source of power.

What can this look like in our lives?  We can continue to struggle with the same life-controlling issues for a very long time while on the outside looking like we are trying to connect with God. We can attend church, but not really engage with the word of God that is being preached.  We can occupy ourselves during the sermon by making a grocery list instead of taking sermon notes or checking out social media on our phone.  We stay until the service is over because it wouldn't look right to slip out early.  We can even come to the altar and ask for someone to agree with us in prayer addressing the circumstances in our lives.  What's wrong with this picture?  Our cord isn't really plugged into the power source.  We're just waving a charger around to show people that we are trying to do what's right. 

In a world that seems to be getting further and further from God, shouldn't we as His children be connecting with Him in a way that is real and vital and life-sustaining?  Religious activity will never change the heart.  Going through the motions will not transform or sanctify us.   A real connection with God will do all those things and more.  Even those who have been "in church" for a long time can find themselves growing complacent and disconnected.  

What I'm talking about here is drawing near to God.  When I looked for that phrase "draw near" in the Bible, I found two very distinct ideas.  I leave you with the same question I'm asking myself - which of these scriptures pertains to you?

These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. (Matthew 15:8)

OR

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)