Just hanging

It’s odd that Jesus just hung out.

We know he grew up learning the trade of Carpentry, yet we never once see him working on anything except one thing… what he said to be the most important thing… relationships.

Jesus said the most important thing in life… the Greatest Commandment… is to love God and love people. Life is all about loving relationships. This is our purpose, the reason for our existence.

As American Christians we seem to loose sight of this truth and buy in to the lie that life is all about consuming.

We get caught up in the rat race of trying to live beyond our means (keeping up with the latest and greatest) and working to pay for all the stuff we couldn’t afford and didn’t really need.

We live to work instead of working to live. We live to eat instead of eating to live. The list goes on and on, except in one area, Relationships.

We put little time into them. We put little energy into them. We act destructively (selfishly) within them. We view them from a very shallow and narrow perspective. If they don’t go just the way we want them we abandon them. And we wonder why we feel so empty, unhappy, and like life is meaningless.

Jesus said life is all about relationships… first our relationship with God… second our relationships with other people.

So, when is the last time you hung out with God? Just sat and talked, ate, sang, watched a show?

When is the last time you hung out with the people God brought into your life? Just sit around talking, playing a game, watching a show, singing, praying, eating… you know… having fun.

Yes, I said the “F” word. Fun! To some Christians this is as bad as the “F***” word.

The Bible says “GOD HAS GIVEN US ALL THINGS FOR OUR ENJOYMENT”. Notice the last word… enjoyment.

Too many of us are stressed out miserable people. We have no joy or pleasure in life. We take no time to enjoy life. We don’t share life with others. We need picnics, movie night, card games, etc.

I want to encourage you to lighten up. I’m not encouraging laziness. Don’t shirk your responsibilities to WATCH AND PRAY or to PREACH THE GOOD NEWS or to be the spouse or parent or employee that God has called us to be, but do take time to relax, reflect, hang out and have fun, enjoy life! Enjoy your family, friends, food, possessions… every aspect of life. Face it with a smile. Look for the good in life, because there is where you’ll find God, because as Jesus said, “ONLY GOD IS GOOD.”