As I mentioned earlier this week, I have been in a spiritual drought lately. It's not that I felt distant from God, I know that He has remained close by. It has been more of a feeling of apathy, of not caring. Of wanting to take a break from the battle, the refinement and the suffering.
I have wanted a spiritual vacation so I could be spiritually lazy.
However, it appears that laziness is not the greatest of virtues.
(DANG IT.)
In fact, not once did Jesus talk about taking a break from our relationship with Him. It was quite the opposite, actually. He said that our every word should be a prayer. Our every act should be in honor to Him. Our very existence is for His glory. Laziness was not part of His vocabulary.
(Again. DANG IT.)
Oswald puts it like this:
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice,
degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency
to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer
and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat.
We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy.
We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him.
This is the first step in the wrong direction.
All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
Yeah, I pretty much needed to read that.
The "vacation" is officially over.
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