TODAY IS…

a good day to ask, “Am I being spiritually sincere?”

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past 70 years, was it really for Me that you fasted?’”  Zechariah 7:5 NIV

Let’s ask that question again: “Am I being spiritually sincere?”

At first glance, it seems to be a straight-forward enough question that shouldn’t require a lot of soul-searching or time to arrive at an answer. However, many of us will find that the truth lies farther below the surface than we would care to admit.

Spiritual sincerity is probably less common than we would like, but only God truly knows how many of us can answer, “Yes!” with the enthusiasm that is born of truth.

Undoubtedly, a great many of us read the Bible, if not daily, at least regularly. It is likely that many also have a favorite book of devotionals that we read and certainly millions of us attend the church of our choice on a regular basis as well.

But do we do all of these things by rote or do we do them with an attitude of enthusiasm and an eagerness to seek God’s love, wisdom and blessings?

Do we look forward to opportunities to praise God, to thank Him and to serve Him, or do we do it all merely out of habit, training or a desire to “look good” for others?

God is painfully aware that not everyone who claims a relationship with Him is being honest. Jesus made this knowledge clear when He reminded some Pharisees and religious teachers of Isaiah’s prophecy.

“These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8 NLT).

If we examine our hearts and discover that those words are describing us, it is alright. God understands. Although we may take our eyes off the Lord, He never takes His eyes off of us. So if we find that we are not quite as sincere in our worship or our prayer as we know we ought to be, we need only ask Him for His help in redirecting the focus of our hearts toward Him.

Slow down.

If we can’t slow down our entire life, we must at least slow down when we worship, pray or study the Word of God. We must quiet our minds and our hearts and open them up with joyful enthusiasm to receive the messages that God is trying to give us.

Slow down, stay focused, and strive to be spiritually sincere.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson