Numb

Sometimes I get a word in my head and I can't get rid of it. Recently it's been the word numb. Initially I was going to write about how easy it is to become numb to the brokenness around us. The apathy that so naturally fills us because of how normal some things have become, sadly. But even more devastating is the fact that many of us are becoming apathetic to God by being numb to the Spirit.

How many of you go to church every week? How many of you stop and think about why you do that? How many of you read your bible every day, or every week? and what's the reason for that? When you open your bible, are you looking to find more of Jesus in it, or trying to get your moral lesson for the day that applies to your life?

I think we are becoming numb to our routine worship, so much so that it isn't even worship anymore. These people worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. - Matthew 15:8. 

What does having a heart near to God look like?

My answer would be getting excited for what God is doing around you, and being aware of what he is doing in you. My pastor said in a recent sermon "we are too easily satisfied." We settle for temptations in comparison to the satisfaction we could find in the Lord. But even when we do come to him, we read a chapter in the bible or listen to a worship song and we got our "fix" for the day. No!!! The bible tells us to never stop rejoicing, never stop praying, never stop giving thanks. The fact we have our God time and carry on the majority of the day without regard for him is insanity. It's seriously such a shame we don't get excited for what God is doing anymore. When someone walks into a church for the first time we hardly notice. Instead we could be celebrating like they are in heaven. We take praying lightly, hardly remembering we are having a conversation with the Creator of the whole universe, who knit you together in your mother's womb, who has given you his righteousness that you do not deserve, but that's what he was willing to do to be one with you again. And discipleship is just because "you're supposed to." No wonder we're numb to brokenness of the world around us, we're numb to the Creator who shows it to us.

I claim, like many of you, that my hope is in Jesus, but I honestly don't think about him coming back. My mind is rarely set on eternity, very occasionally on things above. That is where I go numb. I am frequently indifferent to the reality that he will come again, and that there is urgency in our existence.

So if in any way you have become numb to the Lord, going to bible study because that's what every Thursday is for; the sake of routine rather than seeking Jesus, going to church for the music and to look nice, or just forgetting him in the small things, the question to ask now is how to un-numb yourself. How do you get back to that early excitement, that urgency, or maybe discover it for the first time? The best place, the only place, to start is with God. Tell him what you want, and if it's in line with his will, it will be answered. This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us - 1 John 5:14. And let me tell you, it's his will for you to be more intimate with him. If you want all things to flow from him, you have to go to him, asking for that to happen. You can do nothing apart from God, even loving him is through him. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water  - Hebrews 10:22.

Maybe mix up how you spend time with him, too. If you're in a relationship and your first date was at the movies, you don't only go to the movies the rest of your relationship. Hopefully you go out to eat, or explore new interests. Meet him in those new places; on a walk, in your room, in different worship music, in different service groups. Nothing is wrong with spicing up the relationship, especially if you will be more intimate with him as a result. Maybe you need to see God somewhere you haven't seen him before; let him out of the box he is so often put in. He isn't just there whenever you decide to dust off your bible, or when you enter a church building. Believe it or not, the all-knowing, sovereign Father is indeed everywhere. Find him there!

"If you seek me wholeheartedly, you will find me." - Jeremiah 29:13