|
| Does God Have An On/Off Switch? |
|
| |
16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually! Continually! Seek God's presence continually. That means all the time, 24/7.
Is there a God switch with which we can conveniently turn God or the idea of God on and off? If you observe our culture, there appears to be.
Some people publicly have their God switch off. They boldly proclaim that there is no God. However, some of these people seem to have trouble keeping their God switch off. If you go to the religious page at tennessean.com you will see comments (often hostile) by people who say they don't believe in God. But if their God switch is truly off, why do they spend time thinking and writing about Him and why do they read the religious page? Why be hostile toward something that you don't believe exists?
Most people, however, will occasionally turn on their God switch. Most of us will acknowledge God, at least verbally, from time to time.
The thing about a God switch, however, is that we can turn it off when we want to be left alone, when we want to do our own thing, which for me is most of the time. It is very inconvenient to keep the God switch on. I find it messes up my plans. It is very tempting to just turn it off. It takes so much effort and courage to consistently keep that God switch on.
Of course, many of us don't want to be labeled as a non-believer, so we do briefly turn our God switch on once in awhile so that we can keep up appearances. Then we turn it back off.
For example: We say a table blessing (God switch on); then we say Amen (God switch off). We go to church (God switch on); then we leave the building (God switch off). We begin a business meeting (or the US Congress) with prayer (God switch on); then we conduct the meeting as if God wasn't there (God switch off). We read the Bible (God switch on); then we ignore what we read and do what we want to do (God switch off).
Here's a novel idea. What would happen if we kept our God switch on? What if we stayed aware of God around the clock? What if we allowed Jesus to come out of history and allowed Him to direct our day to day lives and make us His story -- 24/7? What if we turned our contact with God on and then threw away the switch? What if we set our switch (our heart and mind) on God and left it on?
Paul of Tarsus put it this way: "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds (switch) set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."
Is your God switch set on continually? |
|
| To add a comment to "Does God Have An On/Off Switch?" |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
 |
|
|
 [star!] |
(Smile)....I can't afford to turn the switch off my friend...I'd be dead meat....LOL....Great blog ;o) |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| Good one, MarJay. And true for me, too. |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
|
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| Thank you, mstovall. |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
Great post, it is worthy of reading and reading, thanks for sharing. |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| I appreciate that, Teral. |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
Politics and pluralism, "christianity" and cronism trigger the switch.
Pragmatic is a far more politically correct adjective than lukewarm. The latter deflates the ego, the former massages it. It was John the Baptist who said "I must decrease, He must increase." It was Jesus who said no greater man was born of woman than John, yet even the least with his God switch on is greater than John - or words to that effect, I would argue (or should I say postulate). The Scriptures are a personal love letter from God, yet I wonder if we don't often approach them as though we were reading someone elses mail. Our own God switch off. Google Laurie Oakes in today's Courier Mail. (Brisbane, Australia) |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| Brother Steve, Jesus turns me on..... That is a yes in the on position. Did you know that a light switch in the off position will leave you in the dark? |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
|
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
Steve, i either threw it away or it melted, there is no way i can live in a God switch off mode, i thank Him that i can no longer live there. |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
I love it!
"We read the Bible (God switch on); then we ignore what we read and do what we want to do (God switch off)."
Father, keep the fire of You burning in us. |
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
|
|
|
| July 17, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
|
|
|
| July 18, 2009 |
|
|
|
| I appreciate the comments and the stars. Thanks to all. |
|
|
| July 18, 2009 |
|
|
|
| I think God does have an "on" and "off" switch. He listens to things when they need listening to, and switches off when they don't. Why? Because it all depends how sincere people are when they say stuff. Read James 1:6-7 [NIV] to understand the meaning. In short. How can He listen to anything that people say or want- when the person themselves don't know what they want? Its called being double-minded, so He backs off until people know exactly what they want. |
|
|
| July 18, 2009 |
|
|
|
| [star!] |
Sounds like the body of Christ is sick and in need of a healer.......we only need him when we are in trouble(on) and when things are going good the switch is off..good point,thanks. |
|
|
| July 18, 2009 |
|
|
|
I need my switch constantly tuned in and turned on
But agree there are those who just use God as a crutch and their switch would
be at on/off in quick speed |
|
|
Follow this blog
