If you think about it, our lives today have become pretty easy, no matter how busy or complicated your life is. We have become the "Now Generation". We don’t know what it means to wait for something anymore. If we want food, simply go get fast food. New album came out? Why spend time going to the store and buying it, when you can download it to your computer instantly? Whats your best friend doing right this second? Check their twitter/facebook or send them a quick text. Its all instant gratification. We have became a people who consume food, gossip, entertainment, news, and so on.
Unfortunately I've noticed that sometimes we look at God with the "Instant Gratification" mind set. We go to church because we know we can get an amazing worship experience. We don’t have to do anything the music is selected already, and we don’t have to think about the Bible because we are told precisely what acknowledge. Now don't get me wrong; These are excellent things to have and look for in church. But, the problem is that it can create an "Instant Gratification" mentality of God if you don't do your part in growing your relationship with Jesus. This not only deals with our experience at church, but our personal experience as we read the Bible individually. For instance: I gave away my study bible a while back because I realized that it gave me the answer I was looking for, or it explained to me the meaning of a given passage right away; rather than me actually taking the time to reflect on what I read, and discovering on my own what God wanted me to take away from it. Again, I'm not saying, "Go throw away your study bible!" Not by any means. It's not bad resource, but it can cause us to be dependent the instant gratification aspect, instead of being dependent on God.
"Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight on all of this."
2Timothy 2:7
In 2Timothy chapter 2, Paul is giving instructions to Timothy. The instructions were hard to understand, but I realized that Paul didn’t want Timothy to just depend on him. Instead, he knew Timothy should depend on God and the Holy Spirit that was in Him.
When you read your bible, think over what you have read and ask God to give you the understanding.
When I first started going to church, I just believed what people told me about what they got out of reading certain passages of the Bible. But, as I've grown closer to Jesus, I've realized that I get a greater greater joy in God’s word when I think and pray over it, than just read or listen to what others have said of it.
Be careful that you don’t become a simple "consumer of God."
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