Have you ever heard anyone say I’m spiritual, just not religious? I had a conversation like that with a person recently who took pride in having a faith that’s neutral, passionless. He described it as a firm belief in an undefined, generic God Who doesn’t impact personal life.
It seems to me that a vague belief in a Creator who is powerless to impact one’s daily reality is like having a treasure chest in the middle of your living room where you can walk around and admire the construction of the box, yet never open the lid and experience the treasures within.
I value the treasures of God and wouldn’t live my daily life as I do without them. Like assurance of the love of God that makes it possible to be an outrageous lover of all God’s people, enemies included. Like the supreme trust that enables me to live with joyous self-abandon, because God has ultimate control. I like the excitement of each new day anticipating the challenges and wonders God has planned. The deeper I dig into God’s Treasurebox the more there is: sweet comfort when I hurt, hope when I’ve walked into a place of blackness and supernatural energy when mine is depleted. And when I see a scene like this while driving through the Carolinas I gulp, He's amazed me again.
By the way, I don’t consider myself religious either. Something about the word reminds me of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day – men who walked about preaching to others the externals, legalities of faith, without having the internals straight. The character, Jennifer, in my new novel, Directive 99, is like this. Her spirituality was surface without substance. She served others without joyous heart affection until God got her full attention. (For more info on Directive 99 visit my website www.judithrolfs.com.) Personally, I prefer the descriptive words a Jesus truster or an unabashed God lover.
