Need To Breathe

Why do we have a tough time returning back to work after a particularly enjoyable weekend? That's kind of a useless question. The answer is obvious. Work is tedious & boring. Weekends are fun and exciting! We'd much rather be on vacation than chained to our desks doing pointless, boring things. Feeling depressed Monday morning makes perfect sense. Then why do we keep doing it again and again?

Our faith can be the same way. When we first come to believe in God we get SO excited. We're on fire for Jesus. We can't get enough of Him. We read. We worship. We praise. But then . . . we all tend to return to our old way of living. We all tend to slide back into the person we used to be. Why? We're humans, we're flawed and we all tend to ignore our Creator.

Our faith lives shouldn't be that way. We are told in the Bible that we are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." We fail at that. Why? There are several reasons.

Persecution. When we come home from church or a Bible study we can be met by an unbelieving spouse who wonders why we waste so much time at church.

Propaganda. We watch television and get seduced into thinking that sin isn't so bad. We see violent television shows that thrive on sex and murder and "self." It is all too easy to absorb their thinking into our minds and hearts.

Procrastination. There are times when we don't feel like reading the Bible. Those are precisely the times we SHOULD be reading it. We become accustomed to a way of life and we feel comfortable just wallowing in it.

People. We all have friends who are non-believers. We want to be friends with them yet they always tend to suck us back into doing sinful things. We tend to go along with them because we like having friends.

So, what can we do about it?

When a person is drowning they crave one thing. Air. We need it to survive. Without it we die. Shouldn't our faith be like that? Shouldn't we crave God's word? Shouldn't we NEED to be in it?

When someone is drowning and has no way to save themselves, what do they need? The need someone to save them. They need someone who can throw them a life preserver. Don't we have that in our faith lives? His name is Jesus. He saved us on the cross.

We live in a fallen world. We are in danger of drowning each and every day. When a friend is having a bad day we need to be ready to throw them a life line. Who knows . . . tomorrow the roles might be reversed and WE will be the ones in need.

We all can learn how to swim my immersing ourselves in God's Word, thereby keeping ourselves afloat with every word we breathe in. Spend time serving others, spend time in worship and praise, spend time doing those things we need to do in order to remain afloat in a world that keeps pulling us under.

We need to breathe. God is our oxygen.

"16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Washed By The Water - Needtobreathe