Seek, and Ye Shall Find
I heard a Jon Gordon podcast interview that resonated with me earlier this week. Pastor Erwin McManus talked about the three wise men at the nativity and how they found Jesus because they sought life. Yet the Jewish religious leaders of that time were not present at Jesus’ birth.
It reminded me of a conversation I had with my mom last week. We were talking about the differences between our old and new churches. Our family had grown up in the local Methodist church where my mom took us for service and Sunday school when we were kids. We went there because of tradition and habit – like everyone else.
A little over a year ago, my mom and my brother’s family began going to a fast-growing community church twenty miles away. Last year, my kids and I joined them there for Christmas service when we were in Iowa. There were around 2,000 people in attendance, one of three Christmas services with similar numbers. That service was such a positive experience that it influenced me to find a similar church in the Chicago suburbs for our family when we returned home.
Mom and I talked about how our new churches were a unique experience. We shared that both of us now typically shed some powerful, happy tears during church, something that rarely happened before. We were no longer going through the motions, softly singing old hymns out of habit.
All of us were at different churches because we were seeking more in our relationship with God and Jesus. And what a great feeling it was to be surrounded by so many others on a similar spiritual journey.
As we go into 2023, let us have open minds. Were you unhappy with your church during covid and the riots? Sick of woke confusion? Has your church experience gone stale? Consider trying a new church.
Take advantage of the vast resources available on the Internet to go deeper into the Bible. Start a daily reading/prayer practice. Get in the habit of thinking of God and Jesus throughout your day.
Let us all seek rather than know.
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Jon Gordon
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