Got God?

Crammed into the the backseat of our dodge mini van, I stared out the window, watching as country and cities alike whizzed by. My eye came upon a church, large in stature and mighty in width, a red banner dangling from its side.

30-minute worship service! it read.

For a moment, I thought, Cool, a 30-minute worship service! but then held myself in check. 30 minutes, huh? And we can't give God more than that?

With the rush of today's society and the never-ending demands inflicted upon us by our ever-increasing responsibilities, the clamor created by our busy lives drowns out the quiet, calm voice of God. All too easily, our lives are consumed with the duties bestowed upon us and the insatiable (and unstoppable) demands of this world. With the incoming pressure to fulfill our tasks rising rapidly, our schedules soon become jammed. Soon enough, we find ourselves either looking for a place to fit God into humanity's mad dash or ignoring Him altogether.

Either way, we are fitting God into our schedules, not fitting our schedules into God.

"But how do I do that?" you might ask. "I barely have a moment to myself, let alone to God!"

The truth is, I don't know. I don't imagine any of us do. We want to live inside God's will, but can't stop the earth from turning. It's a hard problem, isn't it?

But, if we look hard enough- explore God's Word just a little deeper- we might find some tricks to help us along the way. The very best that I think of is pray. The Bible tells us we should always be praying- at work, at home, walking the dog, at school, anywhere and everywhere! I believe that if we just got in the habit of talking to God and listening for His voice regardless of whatever we might be doing, we would be so much closer to accomplishing our goal of keeping Him at the center of our lives.

The next idea is keeping the Ten Commandments- and whatever else God tells us to keep. Become familiar with the laws of right and wrong laid down by God, and try to break as few of them as possible. Let them linger in your mind as you go about your daily doings so that they will surface when the time is right for you to put them into practice. And if you mess up, don't worry. Just learn fromyour mistake, ask for forgiveness, and move on with your life.

Another way is to implement everything God says we should be as Christians. These include (but are not limited too) telling others of the Good News of Jesus Christ, being patient, squelching any quick-tempers, loving, kind, and always have a cheerful disposition. Some of these are harder than others, especially the first one. As humans, many of us tend to hesitate when it comes to sharing our faith. Excuses often pop up in our heads. But we must remember that all excuses for not obeying God in any one of the things He commands us to do are irrelevant. After all, what is more important (and rewarding!)- a saved soul or the guilty security we feel from assimilating ourselves into the world?

There is one way of leading people to Christ that is extremely effective. Now, it is understood by many Christians that no one should be forced into Christianity, and that preaching too much to people when they are nto interested often tends to turn them away. This isn't to say that you shouldn't tell people about Christ, just that you need to be able to sense when they are beginning to feel as if you were pushing your religion onto them. And what's really neat about Christianity is that the set of rules given by God, if properly emulated and exhibited to the world, will make some stop and wonder about the difference they see in you. If curiosity leads them far enough, they will ask you about it, and you will have a great opportunity to share your religion with them!

And the best part? You can do absolutely all of this while you work, while you eat, while you go about your errands, at school, etc.! So, you see that if you put God at the center of your life, He will be big enough to encompass everything else you have to do.