Expectation or Obligation?

 

expectation (n): the act or state of looking forward or anticipating

Hubby and I volunteer in the kids ministry at our church. We have an amazing church with an amazing kids ministry, and I love being part of the team.

Factory
2nd and 3rd graders in “The Factory”

But what I love most is the commitment from the leadership to teach the Bible at a level the kids will not only understand, but will internalize and apply to their lives.

They begin each teaching with the phrase, “The Bible is…”

And the kids know to answer, “God’s Word.”

This morning as my friend Cami began the lesson she took a few minutes to talk about God’s Word. The whole morning is very high energy and a lot of fun (if you’ve ever worked with kids, you know that’s a requirement!). Now it was time to settle in for the teaching, and she didn’t want these precious 2nd and 3rd graders to just check out. She wanted them to have an expectation of what God was going to speak to them through His Word. (Oh yes, He can definitely speak to kids, too!)

She held up her Bible and made the following statement:

“Whenever I open this Book, I know God has something for me.”

Those words struck me and lingered in my mind a while.

Could I say the same? Do I come to God’s Word with an expectation…an anticipation? Or is it simply something I’m obligated to do because I’m a Christian and well, I’ve committed to all of you that I will do it (for 30 days, at least). Is that really why I’m doing it?

Because if I truly believe that the Bible is God’s Word (and I do)–His living, breathing, active Word–and if I believe He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (and I do), and if I believe He has a plan for my life (and I do), shouldn’t I come to His Word with an expectation, an anticipation, of what He has for me today?

I wish I could say that I always do, but to be honest sometimes I’m just trying to “squeeze it in” as I hear my Little Man stirring in his room, or while waiting in the pick up line for Little Miss. I know that’s the season of life I’m in, but sometimes in those moments it really does feel like an obligation. To be honest, sometimes it can feel like an obligation when we have all the time in the world.

Can God still speak to me in those times? Sure, He can, and He does.

But those times that I settle my heart and come expecting something from Him, those are often the times I glean the most.

My prayer is that through this Thirty for 30 Challenge, I will learn to come to God’s Word with an expectation, an anticipation that the Creator of the universe has something for me today. Can I pray the same for you as well?

**************************

Thirty 4 30.125x125

This post is part of the Thirty for 30 Challenge. It’s not too late to join!
Click here for more details.

I’m also linking up here today….

TheBetterMom.com

2 thoughts on “Expectation or Obligation?

  1. Oh, Nanc, I can SO relate to this! Why is it that some days I can pop out of bed and dig right into the Word truly expecting something and other days I put it off until bedtime, waiting until the last possible minute to fulfill my “obligation”. I hate it when I do that.

    This is such a great post~thank you for sharing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *