is it holy?

Justin and I spent this weekend at a United Methodist Youth Conference called WinterBlitz with the youth group from our church.  What an amazing time of spiritual renewal! Our speaker was Justin Lookadoo and Addison Road led us in worship.  What a moving experience! What a blessing it has been to move from going to WinterBlitz as a youth to now being a leader and working with such special kids that have a heart for their Savior.  Our speaker focused on the story in Hebrews 5:11-14 about spiritual feeding and challenged us so deeply....kids and leaders alike.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

-Hebrews 5:11-14

This scripture pierced my soul.  I was convicted this weekend.  I was convicted of doing exactly what God's word warns us about.  I have been "slow to learn" relying on others to teach me all the time.  Yes, I give of my time to reach out to others.  Yes, I read my bible.  But I can't say that I have been feeding on solid food as a Christian.  I haven't been reading scripture as a book completely diving into the teachings before me.  I haven't been reading my bible as God's love story to me and treating it as relevant as I know it is.  I have been lazy.  There, I said it.  Lazy in my faith.  I don't want to be there anymore.  I want to be mature in my faith, training myself through God's help and wholeheartedly learning what exactly holy is. 

Which leads me to the next thing....

A question Justin Lookadoo challenged us with is "Is it holy?"  Three simple words that have changed my life as a Christian.  These three words challenge us to move completely away from the thought of what is right and wrong in God's mind.  God calls us to be Holy....set apart from the world.  Battling with what is right and wrong is an endless battle.  There are so many gray areas and places where the world strays us from the truth.  Yet, if we seek out what is holy....we are seeking out exactly what God wants us to.  He defines everything that is holy right in his Word.  His word is relevant.  It is true.  It is life-changing.

So your life...your actions...your thoughts....your decisions...are they Holy? Do you truly desire to be set apart and mature in your faith? No matter what your answer to those questions are....God loves you so incredibly much.  He is waiting for you....waiting for you to come into His arms so he can embrace you and move you to the next level in your faith whether it be the first step or the one-hundredth step.  Allow Him to move in your life.

Sand art image from this weekend