It is mostly coincidence that I am writing this on the first day of the year. It is 12:40 a.m. and I am at the computer while my wife and child are asleep. Nevertheless, before Stephanie fell asleep I laid in bed and we read just a few verses from Matthew and prayed together for a long while. It was beautiful.
Stephanie and I took an almost three week trip to MN a few weeks ago to be with my family for Christmas. Throughout the trip it became apparent to Stephanie and I that we think of ourselves more highly than we ought. (Romans 12:3) This has led to a new standard of living for both of us. I am sure Stephanie and I would define it in very different ways, but both of us agree that the heart of our problem is spiritual.
Within our circle of friends, Stephanie and I have been Christians for the longest. Stephanie grew up readin the Scofield Study Bible, and I have my BA in Religion. Therefore we answer far more questions than we ask. But, this intellectual prowess along with countless others factors have led more to cynicism than devotion to Christ. Throw me in a Bible quizzing ring, or a theological debate on sanctification and I am confident that I will be able to perform, but ask me what Christ has been doing in my life and I am likely to feed you some canned answer that is long past its expiration date. It is for me just a bit more humbling than it is inpsiring to see Jesus working more in the lives of people whom Christ one day used me to reach than in my own life.
Anyway, miraculously, Jesus has not given up on the Patenaudes, and we are humbly yet boldly turning back to Him, not from outright rebellion, but from total complacency. The letter written to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 cuts like a knife. I am excited to rekindle the relationship Christ and I once had.
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