Growing up in God-loving family, I have always attended church for as long as I can remember. Rarely would I miss a Sunday. I can’t say that I would actually always pay attention to the sermon when I was kid though. I would yawn loudly during prayer, play tic-tac-toe, talk to friends, or just flat out embarrass my parents. Got familiar seeing the belt quite a few times after church, but I eventually got straightened out. Overall God was someone I felt very familiar with my whole life.
Having received my salvation so long ago at the age of 11, I felt I knew all the fundamentals of God. I knew God loved me, I knew He died for me. I knew He had Grace on me, I knew He forgave me. My life hasn’t always reflected Him, but I felt as if I knew everything there was about God. I’ve been on a couple of mission trips, heard sermons every Sunday, been part of bible studies, and so much more, but for so long I didn’t have spiritual growth. Having received my salvation over ten years ago, I never became anything more than an infant spiritually. It wasn’t until recently I realized this problem. For so long I just had the mind of a believer, but not a heart of a disciple.
Having my heart set to be a disciple on the race has absolutely changed my outlook on my faith. Church has taught me about Jesus’s teachings, but being on the race and actually living the word is such a different story. I have been asked questions I thought I knew, but couldn’t answer. I have been challenged on my beliefs. I have been watched how I live. By pursuing to have the heart of a disciple and just being more than a believer, it has helped me grow so much more by working and serving with both believers and non-believers.
Several nights ago I got to meet David. David was a cool cat and probably the best storyteller I ever heard. We got into a discussion one night about anything and everything. I would ask him questions about God I have been asked, but never knew the answer for and he would give the most fitting answer. This continued on until 2:30 in the morning. I’ve told him about my personal struggle to set that personal time with God everyday and I was absolutely called out. He told me that having personal time with God is an elementary concept for a believer, especially coming from someone who has known the Lord for so long. As much as it hurt to hear that, he was absolutely right. There was so much conviction there, but if I had never had my heart set to be a disciple for God to learn more, I would have never been told that to help me grow. David asked me a question before he left and I think it would be a good way to wrap up this post.
Who are you in Christ?
