Stage217

So as i lay in bed thoughts run rampant through my head.  Here is one.  I was thinking about Christmas Eve, tomorrow, and how i wont be able to go to church because of spending time with my family.  My family however always goes, not all together, at some point in time or another.  Since they are Catholic this is an easy task because there are tons of services to pick from.  I will be at our dad’s house on Christmas Eve so i wont be able to go to the candle light service at HOP.  I would love to be there but Ill be happy enjoying time with my family as well. 

I then thought, well what happens when either my dad, uncles or grandma asks, did you go to church?  Which who knows, they may or may not ask.  They might ask just out of being polite or wondering what time my church has service; not thinking i wont have gone. 

My reply would be no, I was at dads when my church had the service. Depending on who asked that would be a good enough answer, but on the other hand it might not be.  Next would possibly come, How could you not go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas day?  My reponse would be something like well I dont think its necessary to go to church on a certain day or another in order to get favor from God or something of the sort. 

If you made it this far in the post congrats, because here is where the thought of the evening occured.  I would state that I have prayed and read my bible today and probably would have stopped there saying that that would be enough.  In the mind set they would be in, growing up Catholic I would know, they would have taken it at that and probably would have stopped the interagation.  Again though, being in that mindset, they would have seen it as JUST, almost as if it were just another book, reading the Bible and saying a few sentences to God.  What they would have missed is the whole relational connection that I meant but didnt say when i stated that i prayed and read my bible today.   They would have seen it as an act of doing like was seen in Matthew 7:22 and would have missed the whole part about spending time with God which is what he wants in Matthew 7:23. 

I thought up thinking how most people can read and talk to someone and ask them for things (i.e. Christmas).  I think that is how most of my family would have understood what i would have said, reading the bible and praying.  They would have totally missed the part of me meaning that in reading the Word of God and praying, I was spending time with God, getting to know Him and His ways, and communicating with him.  This would be the reason I dont find it life-altering if i do not go to church on Christmas.  Again, don’t get me wrong, i would love to be able to go to celebrate the birth of our Saviour with all my friends, but I just dont see the time working out is all. 

Make sure that what you say and what it means to you is understood by who you are telling it to because they might have their own interpretation of what you are saying.  When this happens, your words lose their impact and the person you are telling might make their own conclusions and not the ones you intended.

Just a thought…