You Are What You Eat

I’ve had the privilege of recently reading Francis Chan’s Forgotten God. It is a fantastically challenging, convicting, eye-opening book. Although I’m merely in the elementary stages of processing the information found in its pages, here’s a thought. It stems from the following statement made by Chan in Forgotten God:

“I know in my own life I don’t just want to do what my mentors do; I also want to spend time with them. I have found that through spending time with those I respect, I become more like them than I would by simply trying to “do what they do”. 

                       

Most of us know the popular saying, “You are what you eat”. If that’s the case, I’m a walking, talking combination of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, and bowls of cereal. Just kidding : ) In a similar way, I’m sure we’ve all experienced this concept in our relationships with others. We tend to conform, at least in some degree, to those we spend the majority of our time with. If I hang out with people who love well and encourage, I’m more likely to show love and be encouraging. If I’m surrounded by complainers, the temptation to complain will certainly grow. If I surround myself with those who constantly use foul language, chances are I will begin to let a few foul words of my own slip. So, what would happen if I spent more time with God? In theory, I would become more and more like Him. I’d begin to view others & myself-even the world-the way He does. I’d learn more about His love, & I would see more and more of His heart.

Obviously, God’s commands are essential. They protect us & guide us as we strive to discover what it means to live surrendered moment by moment, day by day, to our God. I do think, however, that by solely focusing on the commands and regulations, we miss the point. We miss the relationship aspect, and we risk falling into the trap of legalism.

I don’t want to miss out on communion with my Creator. I don’t want to live striving to follow all of the rules & learning to be a robot. I want my Lord to show me how to be like Him. I want to spend my time walking with Him, learning why He has given us these instructions. I do need to follow His commands, but I want to know why they are in place for us, and I need God to show me.

Seems simple enough, right? So, why don’t I spend more time in communion with my Savior then? Why is it so easy to make excuses and so tempting to find distractions? How can I ever hope to be transformed into the image of the one true God without spending quality time with Him?

So, my prayer and challenge is that we would learn to long more and more for quality time with our Creator. I pray that we would experience His character a little more fully each day and that He would give us the discipline and desire to fight the distractions and temptations that so often deter us from drawing closer to Him. I pray that His Spirit would fill us and that day by day we would look more and more like our God.