Have you ever been fired up about doing something only to fizzle out after about a week or two? I am the king of this when it comes to working out. The thing I have found about going to the gym once in a while is that you never really see any real progress. I go for a bit, but I don’t stay consistent with it. So every time I go back to the gym and lift weights, I can’t lift anything heavier than what I had previously lifted, or worse I have to go down in weight.

This can apply to anything thing in life. If you don’t stick with something, typically it becomes an exercise in futility. This can especially be true when it comes to our relationship with God. Jesus tells us in John 15 that we need to abide in Him and His Word abide in us. The Bible tells us over and over to set our minds on things above and not on things of the earth (Romans 8:5, Colossians 3:2). When you abide somewhere, you don’t just visit once in a while and check-in. You live there, Jesus is our life, and we must stay connected to Him.

So, how do we stay connected without falling off the bandwagon? Get a schedule, Wake up a half-hour earlier? Well, just like with everything we cannot lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). We must rely on God to be faithful to Him. Jesus gave us every advantage to have a lasting, meaningful relationship with Him through the Cross.

Galatians 5:22 list of the fruit of the Spirit

 Love

Joy

Peace

Longsuffering

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

Notice these are the fruit of the Spirit. These are not the fruit of our human nature. This is why we must rely on God to be faithful to Him. Without His Holy Spirit stirring our hearts, writing His Word in us, leading and guiding us into all truth we are going to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. God truly made it easy to have a relationship with Him, we just have to get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

Start somewhere! Ask God for practical steps on what to change to spend more time with Him. He is our life, our daily bread. Make it a priority to feed on His Word, even if you just spend 5 minutes. Start somewhere and ask God to stir your heart for a passion and desire for the truth. If you submit your time to His Lordship, you will see a drastic change in your life!