I am somewhat of a tinkerer.  Having spent a good portion of my childhood as a gopher for my dad, I gained an immense base of knowledge when it comes to figuring stuff out and repairing it.  I can’t say that I am as adept at being Mr. Fixit as my father, but because of him, I certainly have no fear of jumping into any project.   There are days when I walk through the door and my daughter holds up some broken toy and says, “fix it dad.”  The challenge is too much to resist.

At the very core of who I am… I love to tear things down to their simplest parts to see and understand how it works.  I think this nature is what confounds me about Faith, the church, religion, and how Christians can meander away from God without hardly trying.  Sometimes, we need a “do – over”.

If we’re not careful, we can make faith in God so incredibly complicated that it seems impossible or too heavy to carry.  God designed faith to be easy and light, but if we’re not careful, we can weigh our faith down like a sack of rocks that we would just rather not pick up on some days.  Do you recall when Jesus Christ told us that his teachings are easy and his burden is light?

[box] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Jesus Christ Matthew 11:28-30[/box]

If you have ever felt that the weight of faith is just too heavy to carry today… then you’ve missed God’s design.

Let me offer an analogy:  As a father, there is no possible way that I am going to hide myself from my daughter.  Under no circumstance will I leave her in the dark and confuse her so she can’t find me.  At no time would I ever make it seemingly impossible for my child to experience my love.  How can I give my complete love and attention to her and still make it impossible for her to find me?  Sure there will be times where she will need to learn who I am and how to navigate life, but I will always show her and keep my arms around her.  God is like that.

Is God not bigger than we are?  Be in awe at how much God love us than we love our own children and family!

God doesn’t hold back His favor until you do something impressive.  More love and favor aren’t reserved for those who caught a touchdown pass, pitched a no hitter, conquered the business world, invented a new fuel source, climbed Mount Everest, made more money, etc.  God cares more about you than the stuff you do.  If the joy in life comes from pursuing things rather than loving God and loving others… you missed His message and are missing the fullness of what He offers.  God’s desire is completely wrapped around his children having an abundant life, which has nothing to do with “stuff” – it’s about contentment, giving, and others.  We may accumulate and succeed… which there is no wrong in doing so… just give God the glory for success – it’s all His anyway.

God’s will is clearly outlined:  Love Him with everything you have by loving your neighbor as yourself.  How do you love your neighbor?  You give.  Not your leftovers, but you give your best.  You sacrifice yourself for the sake of others.  Isn’t this the clear picture that God gave us by giving his son?

May you be content in knowing that God is near you.  And may you come to understand that God will not “give you a snake if you ask for a fish”, ( Luke 11:11 ) but offers freely the gift of His Spirit so you can come to know Him fully.
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