A DO-ER...or a BE-ER?

We are by nature "do-ers" while the Divine call is to become "be-ers".

I might get on a spurt and clean the fridge so thoroughly as to even read the expiration dates on the salad dressing...yet put off spiritual disciplines like prayer or Bible study.  Why?  Cuz it's easier to "do".

When the Lord was explaining the concept of our deportment, He framed ten commandments.  Later, He went on to say the ten could even be reduced to TWO...love God and love others.  Don't miss the order of that simple life plan.  He wants us to "be" and THEN "do".

My closest earthly love relationship calls for maintenance.  You might think that after forty years, Mike and I would have the co-existance rhythm down pat.  But instead of less maintenance, we are finding more need for closeness.  I get to missing that man and by suppertime, look forward to downloading the day with him.

Ever been in love?  It's fun to recall love's beginnings when the intensity knob is turned way up.  I can remember how unbelievably gorgeous the fall colors were in 1969 because all of our senses were on alert.  Mike and I couldn't wait to be together and talk.  The sound of his voice made the bottom of my stomach fall out.

That's how it should be with the Lover of my soul.  He wants me to see life as He paints it...vividly and in intense color.  He wants to chart my path.  He waits for my call and delights in giving me good gifts.  Still, the best of the Redeemer's good gifts is second to His unbelievable desire to be with me forever.

So why's it so hard to choose to "be" in His presence?

I was listening to Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) on Huckabee the other night.  The Governor told her that he had met her brother Franklin and he wondered if she, too, had rebelled.  Anne grinned.  She said she had not bucked God in that way, but that her life was full when she was newly married and began to have kids.  God took a backseat until one day when Anne realized the distance and reached for Him in a study called Bible Study Fellowship.  That struck a chord in my heart because BSF is where I found the Lord.

There is a truism that the more you move toward the Lord, the more He moves toward you.  What I have found is that while in a systematic study of question/answer, God probes our hearts and reveals more and more of His heart.  The process of unlocking God's heart is a little like an earthly love relationship.  The more I talk to Mike, the more I understand what is inside his heart and understand what motivates/pleases him.  And so it is with God.

It pleases the Creator to reveal truth to His children.  But such truth is only discerned spiritually.  If the Spirit is not present, there is no translator.  So the first part of "be-ing" is belonging to Him.  John 1.18 says "to as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to be called children of God".  Then, as Anne Graham Lotz said, you're @ the starting line.

I would not likely commit at the marriage altar and then move away from intimacy.  Neither would I commit to God and then not pursue Him.  Church is not enough.  We need to personally interact with God to plumb His mind.

You probably know your mate's love language.  Do you know the Father's love language?  Speak love to Him in the spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer/fasting/giving, and forgiveness.

"To be...or not to be".  That IS the question.