It's 2010 and it's a new day. Several years ago, a rap group popularized the acronym C.R.E.A.M.: cash rules everything around me. We could substitute the word convenience for cash. Cash has enabled many things to occur, both good and bad. Sufficient cash allows for convenience to survive and allows convenience to flourish. Convenience is the life blood of modern society. Cash is one of the tools that enables this. Convenience in and of itself is not a bad thing. The thing with convenience is that it can be addictive. We all crave better and more efficient ways of doing things. Convenience is most often at our beck and call, and doesn't hesitate to cater to our every whim. Convenience loves to keep us company: it knows that once it comes around, it will be back ad infinitum. Convenience also knows that it stimulates the pleasure centers in our brain, and causes us, in varying degrees, to release pleasure hormones, a la drugs and sex. Again, convenience in and of itself is not a bad thing. But once we become "hooked", convenience makes us only crave it more. And once we become hooked, convenience affects every aspect of our lives: from the food we eat and to how we eat, to where we go and how we go, to our degree of intimacy (or lack thereof), to our degree of patience with others, to how we take care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Spiritually. Hmmm. As Christians, we take care of ourselves spiritually by reading our bibles, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, fasting and meditating on God's word. Taking care of ourselves spiritually may or may not involve some convenience. But sometimes when it's time to pray, read our bibles and fast, it may not necessarily seem convenient. Praying is not as fun as watching our favorite sports team or favorite TV show or movie. Doing without something for a period of time when we can choose not to? Well, in this modern era that we live in, most people do pray (even if it's just a few words mumbled just before eating). Building a relationship with God requires more than that. It even requires more than just going to church. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love us just because we only give Him 5-10 minutes every week. Yes. God's love is unconditional. Relationships don't just happen on their own, even with God. We have to spend quality time with God to build a relationship. Just calling His name and doing things in His name is not building relationship. Quality time. How much? How much time do you spend building human relationships? If you're like me, you probably don't keep a record of how much time you spend around the people you enjoy. So the quantity of time is not important, but it certainly takes more than 5-10 minutes weekly. And this time is not limited to just being on our knees. We can talk to God anywhere. We can also meditate anywhere. And what about the "F" word? F_ _ _ (ha). Fast. Fasting requires us to bring about the antithesis of convenience: sacrifice. Although when fasting we're abstaining FROM something, we're also DOING something in it's place (reading our bibles more, praying more, etc). Convenience and sacrifice don't go together. When our Savior died on the cross, it wasn't convenience, it was sacrifice. And in this modern era that we live in, spiritual warfare requires that we also make sacrifices. Convenience can be a good thing....as long as we don't become addicted to it.
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