Remembering to Think Ahead

Last Sunday I went to a church that I haven't been to in 4 years; a church that helped me rediscover the Lord, introduced me to my wife, developed my love for ministry, and sent me into the world as a missionary.  As a person who experienced radical life-transformation while attending that church, I was surprised by how familiar the church felt.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from the experience, but it wasn't familiarity.  We live in a culture that loves change.  "Progress", "novelty", and "creativity" are all words that elicit excitement and validate success.  So what does it say about a church that hasn't changed much in over four years?  Faithfulness.

The church had changed over the course of 4 years, but the change was overshadowed by the consistency of the pastor's passion.  Throughout all of these years, he has remained passionate about intentionality.  He wanted the congregation to grow closer to God, and he knew that growth required intentionality.  But what does it mean to be intentional with God?

Intentionality is the processes of remembering to think ahead.  It's the discipline of adjusting your current direction to accomplish your future goals.  It's the commitment to focus on the correct priorities, but isn't this were we tend to struggle?  I know that I do. 

As I thought about prioritizing my relationship with God, I struggled to know how to prioritize, and what to prioritize.  Do I resolve to sin less?  To give more?  To build my intercessory prayer list?  As I thought upon these questions, I realized that although these are all good things, I think they are secondary issues.

I believe that I will only accomplish these things, if I learn to love more.  Being intentional in my relationship to God will require me to focus on His love for me, and allow that love to transform the way I love Him.  As my love for Him grows, my obedience will grow as well.  It's just as Jesus said in John 14:23, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching."

As we begin a new year, I want to model the faithfulness of my former pastor by choosing to intentionally focus on letting God's love transform my relationship to Him.