Two blog posts in a week! What's going on here?! Last week was about cancer, so this week we're going to talk about Jesus. Yippee! I was recently invited to join a women's Bible study, and I was super jazzed about it. I told a friend at work about it, and her response was something like this: "Wait, you go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and now Thursday night? That's a lot of church!" But, really, is it?
Here's what I'm doing. If any of this sounds interesting my local friends are welcome to join me. Sunday mornings is my Young Families class where we are
always reading a book (currently, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream by David Platt) and diving into some great content. Right now, we are
learning about trusting the Bible. What about all the variations
in text, the number of manuscripts, and all the people who would have us not
trust the Bible as the inerrant word of God? And then there is the church
service and we are just starting a series going through the gospel of John. Sunday nights is our small group where we meet to connect, study, and
fellowship. Wednesday night is a class that
provides a fascinating exploration of covenant theology and dispensational
theology. Thursdays I will be starting a Beth Moore study with a group of women
and I am truly excited about developing new relationships and strengthening existing ones. And then every weekday I listen to a podcast on my way to work. Sometimes I zone out, but it helps me to think of things from a Christian worldview.
Even with all that, I still want more. I want more time to
read my Bible, to study, to connect. Why? I was listening to the sermon from
last week (making up from being sick) and I got my answer:
People that have received the life crave the word of God like
food. You crave and desire to be with the people of God. You crave and desire
to come to church on Sunday mornings. To sit with God’s people, to sit under
the preaching of the word of God.
Ah, so that’s it! Sometimes I struggle at work, being in an
environment that is so secular. I went to a speaker last week, a local oncologist talking with students about how to be good providers. The talk was interesting, simply because his worldview is so incredibly different than mine. I am grateful that as I continue to mature in my own Christian worldview I can think critically about what I'm hearing and seeing in the world.
And so, doing church things on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday will never be enough. I will always want more. I want to learn all the things. There is so much I don't know. I dream of inheriting some massive sum of money (like all people!) and being able to stay home and not work. I think about what my day would look like. I'd get Marah off to school, go work out, and then read and study for the rest of the day. And probably take a nap, too. But, until that day, I'll keep working to find time. And, I hope I have lots of it left.
