God Will See You Now
So here comes the holiday season. For me and my family, we start off with the gutbustingfootballworshiping Thanksgiving day where we single-handedly try to put an end to the existence of turkeys, then coast into Christmas where there is more food, crazy mall crowds, food, presents, did I mention food, and eating.
Which is why holidays, to me, equate to the reason I sometimes wear stretchy pants in my room. It's for fun.
You know, for all the holidays we have, I think there is one missing. In this country we celebrate everything from National Darwin Day (February 12 – probably fell on that date by chance) to No Shave November (guys only PLEASE). So how then did we miss a holiday recognizing one of the coolest things on earth?
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I propose a day known as Listen to God Day
Don’t you think that’s a great idea? I mean, uh, He’s GOD. When He speaks, we should listen. He’s just a few notches up the IQ scale from us, agreed? He made the universe. He made you. He wants to talk to you. Let’s have a holiday!
Here’s the best part. Listening to God isn’t anything complicated. You don’t have to go looking for a burning bush, hire a monk, or even have your life in order.
All you need to do is read. The Listen to God Day is possible because we have 774,746 words in 66 books that are directly from the mouth of God. How do I know this? Check out this amazing statement:
“… men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)
This verse is from the Bible and is talking about the authors of the Bible. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. God said everything He needed to say to the human race and 40 men from three different continents took over 1,500 years and put in down in one conveniently wrapped yet supernaturally powered book. When you read it, you’re not just reading; you’re actually tuning in to the God station – and believe me, it’s playing your song.
So why do we need a holiday about the Bible? Easy. Holidays remind us of important things. The Bible is one of the most important things on earth. Don’t believe me? Well, let me ask you a critical question: How’s life going to work out for you without reading the instructions? Or put another way: do you really believe you can discover the best path for your life without listening to the One who designed life in the first place?
If you answered ‘yes’ to that last question, here’s a good piece of advice for you:
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
Oh yeah, that’s advice from the Bible. It’s telling us that even though we think we’re the stuff and we know the stuff, we actually are on a fast track to destruction. It’s telling us that left to ourselves, we sort of think and do stupid things. Which is why I’m so glad I’m not left to myself, and that I have a book that allows me to see and live life from God’s perspective - and believe me, you need that perspective. We all do. We all need comfort, encouragement, guidance, correction, or maybe even just an amazing story about an amazing God when our lives seem…well…less than amazing.
I wish I had more room to list the hundreds and hundreds of verses that, if you read them with an open heart and willing mind to change, would jump off the page and jump start a new way of thinking for you.
But I don’t. But you do have time each day to take advantage of the opportunity read His Word and become the person you were meant to be. In fact, you could make every day a Listen to God day…
And that’s something worth celebrating!
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Lane Palmer is the Youth Ministries Specialist for Dare 2 Share Ministries in Arvada, Colo., where he works with to provide resources for youth leaders and students. Dare 2 Share exists to energize and equip teens to know, live, share and own their faith in Jesus. For more information on Dare 2 Share Ministries or the GameDay youth conference tour, please visit www.dare2share.org. Send feedback to lane@dare2share.org.
