I'm still thinking about intimacy with God and that chapter from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver.One of the concepts that she writes about that I'm thinking on is what she refers to as "spiritual Snickers Bars". She relates how a friend of hers once planned a small dinner party. Her friend spent the entire day cleaning the house and preparing special foods because she wanted this dinner to be a delightful experience for her guests. But around 4PM her friend realized that she'd not taken time to eat and she was ravenous. Her friend thought it was lucky that she kept a secret stash of Snickers bars and she helped herself to two bars from her stash while she took a much deserved break. But that night when her friend sat down to dinner she discovered a problem; there was the wonderful dinner she'd worked hard to prepare, but she no longer had any appetite.
Weaver relates that her friend said that God spoke to her heart that: "we often fill our lives with spiritual Snickers bars - things like friends, books, and shopping. They may be good things, completely innocent things - but not when they take the edge off our hunger for God". Weaver goes on to pose the question of what we turn to fill up our hunger for God.
I've been pondering this question the last couple of days. I see TV, food, and day dreams as my current appetite killers. In the past business was on the list too but my husband John and I have sought during these last few years to simplify and declutter our lives so that now business isn't really a problem. I'm praying for God to empower me to be aware when these innocent things in my life are killing my appetite for Him. I'm also praying that He'd help me come up with creative ways to change my lifestyle and create new habits that sustain my appetite for Him.
What about you, have you noticed any "Spiritual Snickers Bars" that you've been eating lately?
4 comments:
Mine is probably work and everything else that stands in the way of knowing God better.
Thanks Tracy. This is important to realize.
Wow! You are right on target for me this morning. Harmless little things that push aside the real... Last night watching tv I munched on left-over Christmas candies--a whole bag of them.
You done stopped preaching and gone to meddling!
John
Interesting topic, Tracy. Most Christians talk about idols and false Gods, and forget that it is the foxes that steal the grapes.
Song of Solomon 2:15 (AMP) [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom.
I once preached on the topic: Not Sin, Not God. The point was all the things that we do in our days or lives that are not of God even though htey are not sin. You pointed out some - from TV to shopping, to hobbies and golf, most Christians do no ask God if these are permissible for them - or they decided based on a Scripture that does not apply to them. We filter our lives based on religion and not hearing from God.
It takes time to really hear from God. It takes a supernatural listening that is hard to explain and harder to practice. Lots of us get busy on our day off and really don't take a Sabbath. I mean, it is one of the commandments. It is tougher during the work week.
So for me, it is not one thing, like watching TV for an hour each day, but stopping to see what God actually wants me to do. There are a million good Christian ideas, but we need God ideas.
I find that when I simply stop and listen, that I get more answers than reading the Word, praying or even worshipping. I still do these things, but honestly, I hear God more when I am just quiet. God flows in my heart and my thoughts. When that happens, I am unlikely to miss something whether I am working, spending time with my family, at church or mindlessly watching TV.
Just like how it is with candies, it gives you the boost but doesn't last anyway...What a great thing to remind us as we start this new year. May our hunger for Him grow more. Happy New Year sister Tracy!
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