March 2010
Dear Friends,
"I don't feel like it"
I have to say that mornings are not "my time of day"! I don't like getting up and I'm not a chatty person until I've had my breakfast. It's just the way I am!
However, the "I don't feel like it" attitude is one which can, if we are not careful, affect our faith and we can become some what casual.
Having made our decision for Christ, we can too easily slip into an emotional attitude which gives us a let-out if we don't feel like it and our effort to worship can be overwhelmed by our "I don't feel like it" stance. Sometimes it does take a great deal of effort to practice our faith - especially on a cold Sunday morning.
In the next few weeks we will be reflecting on a group of people whose faith placed tremendous loads on their shoulders. The disciples had to endure a great deal of opposition as they followed Jesus rather than the established leaders of their faith. It would have been so easy for them to have used the "I don't feel like it" get -out card - especially when they had to live through those days following that evening when they shared their last supper with Jesus in that Upper Room.
And then, Jesus went into the "Garden of Gethsemane" well aware of the dangers he was placing himself in. It would have been so easy -and tempting - for him to get away because he "didn't feel like it" any more. Where would we be today if that had happened - I wonder?
As the twenty first century followers of Jesus we need to be careful that our "don't feel like it" attitude doest dominate our faith - especially during Lent, Holy Week and Easter when we are called upon to make a real effort to come together and worship.
Ian R