Going through the motions

I keep hearing a Matthew West song on the radio as I'm driving to and from work, and the lyrics to the song, combined with several key ideas from recent sermons our pastor has been preaching, have caused me to stop and think throughout the day, especially since the song is one of those songs that will tend to stick in your head for a few days at a time... =)

The song is called "The Motions", and the chorus goes like this:

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all-consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
"What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?"

As I ponder my Christian walk, I am reminded of how incredibly easy it is to fall into just "going through the motions" every day, especially when life is busy and I feel like I'm just spinning from one day to the next. Even things that should be routine--reading the Word, spending time in prayer--can become just "motions" if I fail to think about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. What is the primary motivation of my heart? Am I doing these things for myself? For appearances? For someone else? Just so that I can say that I'm doing them? Where are my affections? Do I find myself reveling in and truly loving the Word when I pick it up? Or am I just "going through the motions" without really thinking about the awesome reality of what it is that I'm holding in my hands? Do my prayers become quick and clipped, a laundry list of requests with little time spent simply praising God and thanking Him for who He is and what He has done?

How often do I truly live as a child of God, and how often do I just go through the motions?

It's not an easy question, but it's one that certainly needs pondering.

My new favorite quote...

From one of the best teachers I had in high school:

"Remember what education is for--not the success of some institution, but the enriching of the homelife; to make our men more courageous and discerning, to make our women more gracious and insightful, our conversations better competition for the television, our storytelling more captivating, our young men less likely to be the clods that are incapable of husbanding their wives, and our aesthetic tastes more akin to true beauty." ~ Fritz Hinrichs

My current favorite Christmas song

"Anthem for Christmas"
by Michael W. Smith

In the space of the beginning
Was the living Word of Light
When this Word was clearly spoken
All that came to be was right

All creation had a language
Words to say what must be said
All day long the heavens whispered
Signing words in scarlet red

Still some failed to understand it
So God spoke His final Word
On a silent night in Judah’s Hills
A baby’s cry was heard

“Glory!” sang the angel chorus
“Glory!” echoed back the night
Love has come to walk among us
Christ the Lord is born this night

All creation sing His praises
Earth and heaven praise His name
All who live come join the chorus
Find the words, His love proclaim

A productive day

... Picked up Christmas presents for three very special people today.

... Organized presents I already had for a dozen more. Literally. I can't believe I have this much done this early.

... Had lots of laughing time with Mum and Sis.

... Wrapped one stack in the mound of presents sitting on my bedroom floor.

... Listened to Christmas music all day.

... And perhaps most important of all, FINISHED MY THEOLOGY CLASS this afternoon. One last chunk of homework and one more final, and I'm FREE!



Why can't every day be like this? ^_^

Currently Watching: Australia

I could have walked out of the theater, turned around, and immediately gone back in to watch it again.

I'm not even kidding.

^_^