13 Days of 31: Eye Opener
Have you ever read something, and loved it so much that you came to know it by heart? Words that touch your very soul and hold the potential to change the direction of your life are rare, but precious to experience.
How about when someone gives their take on those very same words, and you realize that while you have loved them, you have yet to completely experience the fullness of their depth?
Learning
When this happens, it doesn’t shake my confidence or discourage me from pressing in. Although, I can see where it would be easy to think that even our best efforts were not enough. The truth is, no matter how hard you work to become something, someone can always teach you how to become something better.
I’m blessed to have made Gateway Church my family’s home. I often talk about the friends we’ve made and the fun Leah and I have sharing life with them, but I’ve not shared often about the man who started it all with a vision for bringing people together to share a love of Christ and live life together.
Depth
Today, Pastor Robert Morris shared a new series called Blessed Families. His message was grounded in Genesis. Now this is a book that I love and have read and studied often. I’ve written about the creation and fall of man, and thought I had a pretty firm grasp on the subject.
Pastor Robert’s message was simple, inspired and I felt like he was talking directly to me. With a few explanations, he opened my eyes to such depth that I couldn’t wait to go back into the book to see where and how I missed it. Of course, the reality of it is, I have never missed the words, but I have missed the meaning.
Gifts
This is why God has blessed us with different gifts, and at differing degrees. I have a friend who one said he was a Christian, but that he didn’t believe in going to church. While I’m not sure the act of going to church requires a “belief” as much as it requires an action, I was curious to know his reasoning.
He said he didn’t need some preacher telling him what to believe. I thought he was sure hung up on that word belief, but I kept quiet. What was important was that my friend said he believes in God, and that Jesus Christ is his son who came and died as an atonement for our sins.
Huh?
I was happy to hear that, but how I wish he’d “believe” that pastors, just like coaches and teachers have the skills to open our eyes to new depths of ability and understanding. But then he quipped, “But I’m not sure I believe Jesus was a real person or just a figment of their imagination, or maybe a ghost.”
Well, that really opened my eyes. I guess the best thing for me to do is pray God will open his eyes while I dig a little deeper into Genesis to enjoy the new depth of understanding thanks to my pastor, the eye opener.
Do Good,