August 31st, 2012

"He found religion!" That term is often used by a friend or acquaintance as the "reason" why another friend no longer joins them in the so called "fun!" Yet we never hear of a person who "found religion" using that term to describe themselves or what happened to them! Why?... Before I attempt to answer that, let's take a look at why people describe the new found behavior of a friend as "finding religion!"
When you think of religion... what comes to your mind? For me, my mind goes to words like: strict, duty, dogma, performance, rules, etc. There is a fair assumption that if I quit smoking cigars, quit drinking scotch, stopped using profanity, and quit with blue humor, etc. that I am now "religious." Deductive reasoning would suggest that I would never stop wanting to do those things on my own, so I must be sacrificing or "white knuckling it" in order to follow the strict rules of my religion. Fair enough. I can tell you as reasonable as that may sound, it is the farthest thing from my reality. When I finally decided to make Jesus Christ the Lord of my life, and deepen my relationship with Him, I was dead serious about it! I was desperate and wanted Him to really be the Lord of every area of my life! Not just fire insurance! You see, I was empty. I wasn't happy. I was disillusioned with my life. I have the big house, the fancy cars, the successful business, money, etc. You know the so-called "Good Life!" Yet, I didn't have peace or joy! Now, I was finally ready to let Him do His thing! This meant to me that I gave Him permission to work in every are of my life. Once I asked Him (Jesus) to help, He moved in to my heart and started cleaning out the garbage, the clutter, the lies, the bitterness, the hurt, the shame... Stuff I was holding on to, stuff I had hidden deep down. Each day, each room, each closet. He would gently say to me, "Will you let me take this out?" And I would say, "Is it necessary?"... And He would say, "Do you want my best for you?"... Then I said "Yes Lord!" It all got taken out to a giant dumpster and then dropped on the ocean floor to be remembered no more! Now that the junk is removed from me, the old desires are gone too! I don't desire the old life! So just to be clear, I didn't "find religion." I finally exchanged the "Good Lie" with the real "Good Life!" Living in PEACE! That is the Good Life! Thanks for letting me Share! Randy Young