At a young age, I embraced Christ and His salvation, so I can't really remember much of my life apart from being a Christian. When I was about fifteen, God really began to work in my heart and draw me into a closer relationship with Him. Everything was fresh and new. I loved spending time in prayer and the Word, communing with the Lord and celebrating Him and His love.
After a couple of years, the novelty of spending time with Jesus wore off. He wasn't so new or amazing as He once seemed to me. Time with Him became a chore instead of a joy. I wondered if there was supposed to be more to the Christian life than just trying to be good and doing devotions. (There is so much more, my friends! We have a very real, living God!)
This past year (2014) has been one of the busiest years of my life. It was so much fun to be immersed in full-time classes at Moody Distance Learning, working two jobs, serving at church, doing ministry projects, spending time with people and more. Throughout this time, in the midst of everything, it was easy to put God on the shelf. He became just one part of my busy life, rather than the overarching reason and joy of my life.
Looking back over the years of walking with the Lord, while I started out excited about Jesus and my relationship with Him, slowly, the joy and novelty of Christ wore away. Other things were newer and became more exciting to me. When the new year (2015) approached, I began to pray for and desire renewed joy in God. I wanted Christ to become real to me in a fresh way so that I could walk again in the absolute joy and closeness that can come only from Him.
Through different things, including a couple trials and realizing my weakness and need for Him, God made Himself real and new to me in many wonderful ways! Now, as I open my Bible, I open it with fresh eyes. I pray with fresh prayers to my God. And I'm learning to live out this freshness in my day-to-day life. Like the Psalmist, it seems to me that,
"He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."
~ Psalm 40:3
Has your relationship with God become dull to you? Maybe you've been a Christian for as long as you remember and you feel like you are just going through the motions instead of living out a vibrant walk with Him. Or maybe you are a newer believer, but already, the first excitement and thrill of being a Christian has left. In our next post, we'll dig deeper into the things that can lessen our hunger for God, but for now, look at these beautiful verses with me:
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23
Every morning, Christ can be new to us. His mercies are new, His love is forever, and His faithfulness will never come to an end. This is amazing! There is newness and freshness is our God beyond what we could even begin to understand!
It's my hope that you will join with me and the Psalmist, and "Sing to him a new song" (Psalm 33:3). Walking in the freshness of Christ is pure delight! I'm still on this journey of pursuing Christ and knowing Him more freshly each day. Join me! Let's ask together for the Lord to make Himself more real to us, to renew our desire for Him, and to be fresh to us each and every day!
It's my hope that you will join with me and the Psalmist, and "Sing to him a new song" (Psalm 33:3). Walking in the freshness of Christ is pure delight! I'm still on this journey of pursuing Christ and knowing Him more freshly each day. Join me! Let's ask together for the Lord to make Himself more real to us, to renew our desire for Him, and to be fresh to us each and every day!
Growing in the freshness of Jesus,
Christina
Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory!
