Be Genuine and Be Joyful!

            Have you had your Joy Juice today? Hope you have developed the good habit of taking it with you wherever you go!

            Many of us find ourselves with a rigid, busy schedule.  We get up at a certain time; we have to be at work at an appointed time; we know how long it takes us to get from here to there, so we allow just enough time in our schedule.  Even on the weekends, we could be in a “rut” and do that same general things at the approximately the same times. It’s as if we are on “autopilot”.  We move through our days without much thought….we just do what has to be done.

            Author and speaker Susie Larson says that if we’re not careful, we can fall into this same mode of thinking and living with our spiritual life.  She says, “Without God’s constant influence in our lives, it’s all too easy to loosen our grip of faith and to trust our own footing more. When we rely on yesterday’s laurels to help us navigate through today’s trials, we become autopilot Christians.” 

            How many of us recite the same “blessing” over our food every meal without really thinking of the words we are praying?  We may attend church regularly, but are we listening to the sermon or are we thinking of what we have to do when we get home? Even in the church service when the hymns or praise songs are being sung, we may join in ....but are our hearts touched by the words we’re singing? Are we truly worshipping God or simply going through the motions?

            In Matthew 15:8 Jesus said, “People honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

            Let’s be genuine in our love for and joy in the Lord; and allow Him to be the pilot in all areas of our life.