Enjoy the Ride

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally a song, hymn or selection of poetry to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Vujicic, Nick. Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2013. pp 47-49.

Opening Thought: I think there is a common misconception that if you’re a dedicated Christian that you don’t have any fun. Like somehow because we talk about being good, following God’s will, and humility in relation to sin, that somehow that translates into boring people that sit at home knitting socks all day and night. (No offence to the knitters out there, you people rock and keep the world warm!). However, whenever I meet a dedicated Christian, I am quite often amazed by how much life and energy they have. They are often engaged in a variety of the spices of life, and because they believe in a God who has created and is unfolding the world around them, they are more inclined to take a leap of faith into what God has instore for them. Let us enjoy the gifts God has given us.          

The devotional begins with: 
Isaiah 35:1-2

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them.
And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
Even with joy and singing.

Second Thought: Something I enjoy greatly, but never have time for is video games. I like having a good challenge and video games combine the hand dexterity of sports with the inquisitive nature of puzzles. As any gamer would know, over the last three decades, video game graphics have taken huge leaps forward. Games can be so realistic that it can be hard to tell if the images are a real photo or something created in a computer. Some people who get really excited about the enhanced graphics become the most disappointed. I was watching a press release about an upcoming game and someone was upset about how the one game they were invested in didn’t have realistic enough trees. Now the game play had nothing to do with how trees looked, so really it was kind of silly. And the reason I bring this up is because if this fellow wanted to see real trees that badly why was he resting his hope of a video game – when there is a whole world with billions of trees to appreciate for their realistic look. This is a long way of saying, we often in life try to create the joy we experience, when God has built into the universe a plethora of joy to dive into. Not to say our creative feats are not important, but when we get so obsessive about what humanity could do, we will take for granted what God has done.  

Continual Work: I feel like a garden is like the best balance to this. There is this overgrowth in nature that God has formed, and then we take it and organize it in personal way to reflect our spirit. Ever garden can be different, but they all utilize the God give gift offered to the world. We should all take a time to cultivate our gardens, literal or metaphorically, taking time to enjoy the simple gifts God has given. It is even better if you can share them with a friend.          

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: Make a joyful noise all the earth – worship your God with gladness. Now I’m not one to say people are navigating their religious, spiritual and/or faith journeys wrong, but I will say this – if it does not cultivate even a little joy in your heart, you might be doing something wrong. Usually when I see “religious people” with no joy, it is because they are creatures of habit, they go to church because it’s a habit of their childhood. They have forgotten or just never tapped into the reason to truly embed yourself in a faith life, or attend a church, which is to celebrate the great volume of the wonders and gifts within creation and give praise to their maker. If you don’t appreciate the creation, it is hard to appreciate the creator, and vice versa. Appreciation and gratitude are foundational for joy. I choose joy, which mean I must take a step back from myself and appreciate and give thanks for my life and my life giver.   

Scripture time: Isaiah 35    

Isaiah has these images throughout it that shows the world in harmony with God, my personal favorite image is in Isaiah 11 – the image of the peaceable kingdom. It depicts a utopia where nature itself come still from conflict and hunger to a point where a lion and lamb can hang out together. Isaiah 35 depicts nature and humanity in awe and joy to the glory of God moving into their fullest potential. Blossoms bloom, blind eyes see, deserts become pools of life-giving water. The world experiences the joy of God and it becomes whole. A beautiful message and also a massive challenge: open yourself up to God and just imagine what you could become. Even as a pastor, someone who looks at this every day – this is likely the biggest challenge, allowing God to form in me my truest self. But it is foundational to exploring all the other calls God will put before you!          

Prayer Time: Holy God, shake my foundation, destroy my misconception about myself and my doubt in your power. Awaken me like a blooming flower, expand my thinking like a butterfly taking first flight. Help me find my path, my purpose and my calling in serving your love. Amen.  

Closing Words: I hope you enjoyed and were lifted by this devotional time; it is truly important to take time for God each day. By doing so, you welcome God into your life, and in turn you will be able to better see the world through the eyes of God, rather than God through the world's eyes.

Artistic Close: 

Christ says “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.”  ~ C.S. Lewis