When I was first born again I was on fire for the Lord. His Spirit was working overtime in me. It was as if I had been transported to another realm of understanding. This stirred up all kinds of feelings, joy, repentance, hope, and a desire for the “more” that was promised in the word. If you were to take my spiritual temperature at that time I’m sure it would’ve read off the charts hot. But, as often happens in the lives of believers, it would not remain so. After awhile I found myself just going through the motions. I had become “lukewarm” not because I consciously chose to, but because I had no real compass to keep me on course. I thought, if I just kept reading my bible and faithfully going to church I’d just naturally grow into the greater things God has for me. I was wrong. I’ve since learned that spiritual growth follows a path, and that path must be known if I’m to have any hope of staying on it.
That’s when the Lord showed me that the first step of the path is to make Christ my Lord. This means more than simply accepting Christ as my savior. I must make the conscious choice to put Him above everything else in my life. I must be willing to submit every problem, anxiety, or concern directly to Him. I must be committed to going anywhere or doing anything He calls me to do. Until I’ve made this choice and declared it out loud, I will remain off the path of spiritual growth. And in that place, all the prayers and bible reading and church going I can muster won’t move me beyond square one.
But once I make this commitment and begin to take action towards it, my spiritual temperature immediately begins to rise.
To be continued…
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