Cheesecake Factory. Those two words cause two things to happen inside my mind. First, I unashamedly salivate for a giant slice of red velvet cheesecake that I will undoubtedly partake in at the end of a special meal there. I never feel guilty when I eat that triangular slice of heaven! Angels sing and forks clash like cymbals when it is delivered to the table. I can hear them now!
Second, I begin to break out in a sweat thinking about the massiveness of their dinner menu and wonder how many times I will change my mind before I settle on a selection. Have you ever been there? I have always compared their menu to a Bible because I think you would have to devise a pretty strict daily plan in order to read every word of it in a year's time, let alone the 3-5 minutes they give you to make your selection after placing your drink order. Makes me a nervous wreck! I mean, how do you choose just one thing? It is completely overwhelming for an indecisive person like me!
Indecisiveness doesn't just rear its head at restaurants, in drive-thru lines, or in my closet every morning as I choose what to wear. Nope, it pervades nearly every part of my life, including my spiritual life. Unfortunately, there are movements of people that unknowingly make me feel a little less than adequate due to my indecisiveness. They don't do this on purpose, but they overwhelm me with one simple question . . .
Do you know how many hours I have toiled over this question? I have prayed and sought and poured through my most favorite study bible thinking the verse was going to begin glowing when I turned to the precise page, but nothing ever glowed or even twinkled the slightest bit. I have surmised that questions like that are meant to make indecisive people like me go completely insane! Do you realize that there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible? And you want me to pick ONE that completely sums up my life, my convictions, and my beliefs about God!!! My southern sass comes out and makes me say,
"That ain't happening!"
Hear me when I say, I absolutely love God's Word. It truly amazes me and continually restores my soul. I love those passages that fill me with awe of how much my Savior loves me, like:
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved."
The verses that provide promises:
I appreciate the instructional verses that seem to tell me what to do:
And, of course, there are numerous passages that I turn to and rely on when trials come. Like these:
Second, I begin to break out in a sweat thinking about the massiveness of their dinner menu and wonder how many times I will change my mind before I settle on a selection. Have you ever been there? I have always compared their menu to a Bible because I think you would have to devise a pretty strict daily plan in order to read every word of it in a year's time, let alone the 3-5 minutes they give you to make your selection after placing your drink order. Makes me a nervous wreck! I mean, how do you choose just one thing? It is completely overwhelming for an indecisive person like me!
Indecisiveness doesn't just rear its head at restaurants, in drive-thru lines, or in my closet every morning as I choose what to wear. Nope, it pervades nearly every part of my life, including my spiritual life. Unfortunately, there are movements of people that unknowingly make me feel a little less than adequate due to my indecisiveness. They don't do this on purpose, but they overwhelm me with one simple question . . .
"What's your life verse?"
Do you know how many hours I have toiled over this question? I have prayed and sought and poured through my most favorite study bible thinking the verse was going to begin glowing when I turned to the precise page, but nothing ever glowed or even twinkled the slightest bit. I have surmised that questions like that are meant to make indecisive people like me go completely insane! Do you realize that there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible? And you want me to pick ONE that completely sums up my life, my convictions, and my beliefs about God!!! My southern sass comes out and makes me say,
"That ain't happening!"
Hear me when I say, I absolutely love God's Word. It truly amazes me and continually restores my soul. I love those passages that fill me with awe of how much my Savior loves me, like:
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved."
Ephesians 2:4-5
The verses that provide promises:
"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I
am, there you may be also."
John 14:2-3, NKJV
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
James 4:8a
I appreciate the instructional verses that seem to tell me what to do:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own
understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct
your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
James 4:7
And, of course, there are numerous passages that I turn to and rely on when trials come. Like these:
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."
2 Corinthians 4:8
I don't know if there is some innate thing inside of me that feels like it's wrong to pick a favorite, as if picking one denies the power of the rest. Whatever it is, God reminded me of a few things. - There's nothing biblically mandated about a life verse. Paul, David, nor any of the Bible superheros claim one, nor did Jesus ever instruct us to choose one. Phew! That's a relief!
- Don't try to keep up with everyone else. Your walk is your walk. Comparison will be the thief of your joy if you allow it to.
- It's totally OK to love all of the Bible! He wants us to hunger for it . . . ALL OF IT! He's more concerned that we're reading it and growing from it than He is knowing that we have picked one verse to hang our hat on.
God doesn't want us to be overwhelmed with man-made expectations. We need to stop trying to keep up with everyone else and worry more about keeping up with who He wants us to be. So, give yourself a break if you don't know all of the lyrics to the newest and trendiest praise and worship songs, if you've never memorized a whole book of the Bible (thanks a lot Beth Moore), or if you don't have an answer for the dreaded life verse question! God didn't save you to be a cookie-cutter Christian. Be who He called you to be and be ok with that. It's as simple as this:
Love Him.
Love People.
Love His Word.
. . . don't over-complicate it . . . and definitely don't cause it to overwhelm you.
Love Him.
Love People.
Love His Word.
. . . don't over-complicate it . . . and definitely don't cause it to overwhelm you.
Thank you for sharing your heart! Such a wonderful reminder this morning as I contemplated all that is happening right now.
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