It’s been a LONG time since I’ve written one of these; I’ve been an unhealthy level busy and haven’t taken time to slow down and just write for the fun of it until today. I was in our Monday morning chapel and I had a thought that kind of correlated to a speech I had heard not long ago that really changed my outlook on life. I attached the link to that speech at the bottom of this blog post if you’d like to check it out (and I highly recommend you do).
This morning wasn’t like our usual chapel. Usually, there’s student-led worship, and then someone gets on stage and shares a message, and then we dismiss to class. This semester, we’ve done a series where we’ve been walking through the Book of Revelation and last week was our last sermon in the series, so to end the series, today, we had a worship service where the band played for an hour and it was a time of worship, prayer, and reflection on what we’ve talked about so far in the semester. It was so good and as I looked around the room, I couldn’t help but feel like several people around me were feeling spiritual highs. It was truly an amazing sight to take in, but I couldn’t help but wonder what was next.
See, there’s nothing wrong with having spiritual highs, they are in fact biblical, but if we don’t allow those moments to truly change us and to truly shape our faith, then they’re practically useless. As people who are seeking after the King of Kings, we shouldn’t just be attending church, and then walking out as if nothing happened, especially when the scripture calls us to BE the church. It’s not always easy, and I’m not gonna say it is, but God sees our hearts above all else and as long as we continue to Love him and others as he has called us to, that’s what really matters.
The video talks about living in the 16th second. So what does it look like for you to live practically in the 16th second? Maybe it means smiling more. You’d be surprised how something as simple as a warm smile can affect a person’s day. Maybe it means surprising a friend or co-worker with an uplifting note or small token of appreciation. Maybe it means spending time with that person that you really don’t want to. Whatever it is that God is calling you to, go do it. Our time on earth is too limited to have regrets in the 16th second.
I hope to be able to write more of these in the coming months but until then, Love God, and Love others as Jesus loves you.
God Bless you and yours,
- Jonathan R Sandidge
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