Starting Over (again)

I am lazy.  There I said it!  The first step to freedom is admitting you have a problem, right?  This week I started back walking after "taking off" about 3 months or more.  I don't know why this is so hard for me!  When I do it I feel so much better physically, because I'm doing something good for my body.  I also feel good about myself in general.  It feels good to know you have done something you don't enjoy solely for the purpose of your health.   The thing is, after so long of doing nothing, you can't just jump right back to where you were when you stopped.  I don't have the stamina to walk as long as I was walking when I quit.  So, now I have to start, once again, at square one and slowly build up my stamina as I increase the time that I walk.

You know I have to get spiritual now, right?  Sometimes we get spiritually lazy and drift away from God.  We slowly stop doing the things we did before, like spending time in His presence, read the Word, singing praise music, going to church, etc.  Before we realize it we have taken a path that we know is wrong.  We find ourselves, like the Prodigal son, eating the scraps with the pigs.  It is at that time we realize that we need to go back to where we were.  We have to start over again.  But, there is a big difference in the starting over that I talked about in my exercise program, and starting over with God.  When we make a decision to return to our Father, he doesn't make us start over and go back to where we were when we first met Him.  As soon as the decision is made, we are back to where we were!  We repent and are restored, just like that!  We don't have to grovel, beg, or take a back seat.  We are immediately given back our position as a child of God, with everything that goes with that.

How awesome is our God!  How good is His mercy toward us!  His loving kindness is better than life!  Our human mindset is that if you fall, you have to pay the price before you can be restored.  Jesus already our way.  He not only paid our way into the Kingdom,  He stamped our hand, so that in the event we decide to leave, we can get back in.  Now that will preach!

If you have drifted, don't beat yourself up.  Just repent (change directions) and your Father will be waiting at the gate to welcome you back in.

Be blessed today meditating on this word,
Cathi