Before I had fully surrendered to God, I never really cared if I heard His word or not. I mean I could sit through sermons and they really were just words. I was there at least, right?
I had gone to church or Sunday school nearly all my life. I enjoyed it, at one point, and it was something I looked forward to, but somewhere along the way, I lost that passion. Something happened and my eyes and heart began to shift from God to humankind. I became distracted. I let the world consume and tempt me and I found myself being led astray. Sure, I would still go occasionally and sometimes, I even showed up with the smells of the previous night still lingering on me. I thought, better to stumble through the door hungover, than to not be there at all.
Truth was, I really was not there. My body may have been there in the physical sense, but mind was not, it was not on God. It was still trying to recover from the night before, to replay the events, to remember what I had done, where I had been and because of that God was the furthest thing from my mind. I may as well have still been at the bars.
God requires all of us. He does not like to share us with the world, and when we come to Him, He wants us to be clear minded. This is so we can understand what He has to tell us and so we can fully comprehend and take in his message in order that we may be blessed.
This does not mean that God does not want the broken, the alcoholic, the addict or others to come to Him, because He does. He calls for everyone! We are all broken, regardless of how many times we have knelt before Him. I am just saying God wants us to come to Him with a clear mind so that we can understand His words. We cannot continue to cloud our judgement and expect to hear His word. Had I continued to show up hungover and drunk, I would have never been able to fully hear what God had planned for me. My mind would have always been in other places and on other things.
We must put aside the ways of the world which interfere with our ability to concentrate on God. Once I came to terms with this, I was able to hear Him and eventually fully surrender. Upon surrendering, I was able to leave the world outside of the walls of the church and the voice of God grew louder and became more clear. God and the world do not mix. You must choose one. I chose God!
In one you will find temporary satisfaction and part-time happiness and the other: everlasting life.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
