ON THE VANGUARD

GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance”
Matthew 3:8

There have been times in my life when I didn’t give my all. You know those moments. Like in school when I would turn in homework that I knew wasn’t great but still good enough to get a B or C on. If I applied myself I could have gotten an A with ease, yet I was lazy. But there have also been times at work when I have been asked to review an issue and went through the motions of looking to be intently examining when really not looking at all. The outcome to those moments has been short vague responses. Even in my spiritual walk, though, I have gone through the motions. I have said the prayers and acted the part when really my desire to follow God’s ways has been lacking and flat out unwanted at times. But what purpose does it serve to appear to be what we are not. With all the effort we put into pretending, would it not be better and easier just to be living the truth as opposed to the half?
As I was reading the story of John the Baptist with my children last night before bed, a truth jumped off the page and convicted me. Maybe it was in the simplicity of the story from the children’s devotional, maybe my heart was in a vulnerable place, or maybe it was the fact that God had been speaking to me about my motions already. Whatever it was or was a mix of, the truth is that these words spoke. Allow me to share them with you from this devotional we read from.

“John was a powerful preacher. For example, he knew when people were just pretending to obey God. When some of them came to be baptized, he said to them, ‘You brood of snakes. Who warned you to run from God’s punishment? If you have turned from your sins, prove it by the way you live. Don’t just claim to be from Abraham’s family. That will not help you.’”
*One Year Bible for Children – V. Gilbert Beers

How many times have we pretended? We go to church, we read the Bible, we sing Jesus songs, but do we mean it or are we just going through the motions? What would happen if we gave God everything we say we are giving Him? We cannot pull one over on God even though we at times think we can. So why do we try? Why do we work so hard to produce pretend fruit when it seems to be easier to just produce real fruit? And the real fruit would keep us in right relationship with God.
I guess what I am saying is that God has been convicting me lately of pretending to obey God. God wants my all, not my motions. He wants my heart, not my intentions. I am being challenged in my walk with God these days to be real, be honest, and be completely His. In order to do this, though, I need to stop going through the motions of this Christian life and truly follow Him with all that is in me.