Listen

This morning I got up an extra hour early because Kayla had been waking up just as I sat down to read the Bible. Well...that hour came early sure enough. Right as I woke up and went to the bathroom, I entertained the thought of sleeping in another 30 minutes.

I sat on the edge of my bed trying to turn my attention toward God. Surprisingly enough, I was able to. But, I decided to put my head back on my pillow fully aware that this is what I was doing. Right as I did this a song came to my mind. "Jesus is tenderly calling...come home...come home...calling oh sinner come home." I don't know the song really well, but those verses kept coming to mind. I sat there for about 15 more seconds before another thought occurred to me: "I will keep you strong." More thoughts raced in my mind as I sat up in bed again. Am I going to die today? Can the Lord really keep me from being tired all day long? Doesn't the pillow sound so nice? Is Jesus calling me right now? Am I going to ignore that call to experience his presence.

I decided that I would spend the next 15 minutes being attentive to God. I kept hearing the song in my head, but it didn't bother me. As I sat there, I realized that expecting God to "show up" the first time I did this is ridiculous. After doing this every day for a while, I might be blessed with an incredible awareness of God's presence.

As I sat there on the edge of my bed, I was quiet before the Lord. He began my day. My tiredness quickly subsided. As I took a shower another cool series of thoughts occurred to me. "The home to which Jesus is calling me is the home of eternal life right now. It is home for Christians to know that their life really transcends this life that we think of as life. Life for Christians goes far beyond normal life. It is an eternal kind of life. It is a life in the presence of God right now. Jesus is calling me home to eternal life today. I can experience fullness of life today through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit."

The Lord will sustain my day because he is able. I look forward to doing this more often. May you be blessed.