Oswald Chambers

I have been doing Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest Devotional for the past year. I am amazed at the depth of insight and spiritual truth I gain from one short page of reading. It is so challenging to me. Our family has been on the church hunt for about a year and I have to admit, sadly, that most days I am far more challenged by that 2 minutes of reading than I have been by a sermon in a long time. Today's devotional was about prayer. A big point was how we often think of prayer as preparing us for service, but prayer is our service. I am not setting out to bash any church or to look down on an of the churches we have visited. I still believe that the church is the bride and body of Christ and does in general do some great things in our world, but I do think that somehow as a collective church body we have missed the mark a bit. I see and hear people being asked to serve and see sign up sheets to serve in every church, but that point about prayer and our connection with Jesus being our service is often overlooked. I have a friend who pours her life out in service to others. She has served our family over and over and serves dozens of other families all the time. Just last weekend she surprised us on a Saturday by bringing Chilli and a beautiful pot of mums to our home. (Anyone with young kids knows how helpful it is to have dinner all ready for you!) She is such an example to me of a woman of God and she constantly overflows from her own connection with Christ. But I know she is not "serving" on any church projects. She simply overflows from her love of Christ. And it blesses so many. But I know that some pastors would and have commented about her lack of commitment to the church. I want to overflow like she does. I want to love Jesus like her and to love others like her and if by doing so I never again "serve" in any formal capacity I think that would be ok. Don't get me wrong I do think people can and should use gifts that God has given them and if that means you serve in a church then do it. But why create programs that people don't want to lead and beg for leaders of them? It has led to some very unhappy church workers and probably some very poorly lead programs. I want my connection with Christ to be so real and so deep that he overflows from my life into my family, into my home, into my friends, into my community and into my church. I think when people are deeply connected with Jesus He will place the right people to lead the right programs. (If they are needed at all.)