* Generically Speaking

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Psalm 34:8 NKJV

I love church potluck dinners. I think I've mentioned to you how our church does it differently. We bring it in and set it in front of us on the table where we choose to sit. Right at 7, Pastor says grace and we dig in - no waiting in lines and no running out of food. And I will tell you that both the women AND the men at our church have an anointing to cook.....mmm-mmmmmmmm! It's a great night of fellowship, and Pastor brings a short word while we're gathered around the table together, and then we pray with whoever's at our table.  

If you attend LCC for very long, you learn whose table to visit for food - that is if you want something besides what's in front of you. It's share and share alike, but some of them cook from scratch and we know who "them" are. (Did I mention their anointing to cook?)

Isn't that funny? Our lives are so busy and so hectic that very few of us cook from scratch anymore and yet we all still flock to those tables and love the food and inhale it like we've been starved for nutrition. And the truth is, we probably have been starved for real nutrition, but we'll still eat whatever's cheap, fast and easy because we don't make the time - or take the time - to get the "real" thing. You know, like when money is tight, we tend to buy off-brands of everything and convince ourselves we like it and it tastes exactly the same... until we get a bit of the real thing. 

The question is do we do the same thing in our relationship with God? How often do we listen to Christian radio and try to justify that we have focused on God in praise and worship while we're driving down the highway? Or caught snippets of Scripture about life lessons and then try to convince ourselves we have spent time meditating on His Word? Don't get me wrong - listening to Christian radio and anything from Scripture are both good. But when was the last time you got down and served up a healthy portion of praise and worship one-on-one to God Almighty? How long has it been since you've done more One Minute Sermons than one-minute games on the social network? Or read more pages in the Bible than pages on Facebook?

We're settling for processed, ready-made, generic Christianity. Why? It's not because we can't afford it. God said come without money and buy. And He paid for it in full. God wants the best for us. He's GIVEN the Best for us. There is NO generic substitute.

Prayer:

Father,

         Thank You for giving us Your Best - in all things. I pray that we would take the time to dig in and get to the good stuff. Help us to see how to get there. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen