Useless if Not Used (Pssst - This is Not About Fitness)

Raise your hand if you have purchased workout gear, equipment, DVD’s, leotards, etc. with great anticipation, goals, and motivation to get healthy and fit?

I think it’s safe to say, most of us have.

We get super pumped watching that infomercial or from seeing the results of someone else’s dedication, which makes up pull the trigger to purchase our OWN workout stuff.

We fill our grocery cart with all the healthy things, all those veggies, and nutrient dense foods and proudly load them into our car to take home.

The box arrives or we return from the store with all the things to “get-r-done.”

We are pumped!

“I’m starting MONDAY!” we say.

Then Monday roles around and things get in the way or we slept past our alarm clock. The kids have a project. A friend called or Marco-Polo’d, if you’re a millennial, and we HAD to respond.

Then, after all of those “inconvenient” moments, we look over, and there’s our pretty workout stuff waiting for us to begin.

Patiently waiting.

Not yelling. Not in our face.

Just waiting.

And we ALL KNOW that purchasing that workout equipment is UTTERLY useless if not use.

Then there’s that Bible study we joined, the reading plan we have, that Bible journal we purchased to encourage and aid us in our growth and walk as Believers. OR there’s that lovely Bible that sits on the table waiting for us.

All of these things, while purchased with good intentions, are utterly useless and do nothing for us if we choose NOT to engage with them.

Bible studies, reading plans, journals are all wonderful tools to assist and encourage time spent with God. But all these are, are tools collecting dust if we choose not to utilize them.

That brand new Bible or even our lifelong Bible we’ve owned will change NOTHING in our lives if we are not reading, engaging, and allowing God’s Word to change us from within. We won’t know Him, we’ll only know OF Him. We’ll begin to create our own understanding, our own ideas, and allow false guides to lead us on a path that is destructive vs. listening to Scripture that is VERY clear about not trusting our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

It is great to have good intentions, to plan, prepare, seek tools to help us grow and deepen our relationship with God. But just like that workout equipment, if not used, it is useless.

Knowing Jesus doesn’t not mean “Jesus + fill in the blank.”

Jesus + Bibles Studies

Jesus + Works

Jesus + ­Doing All the Things

There is one perfect way to know Him, and that’s through His Words.

Knowing Him is not complicated. It is learning how to quiet ourselves and sit in His presence daily, allowing His Scripture to penetrate our heart, mind, and soul. Allowing Him to guide, direct, correct, and keep us in line with His will and heart.

If you’ve had a deep longing to KNOW Him, then SEEK Him.

The only way to seek Him is through the Holy Word of God i.e. Scripture.

Here’s my challenge for you, don’t treat His Words like that dusty ol’ workout equipment. Don’t let the time you’re hoping to spend with God be filled with good intentions.

Know the Word and then, do what it says. (James 1:22)