First 15 Minutes

road trip

We just finished a big lunch. The car is fully packed and ready to roll. We're off! I'm ready for a noisy snack and my hot soy chai. Seriously, as soon as we hit the highway and the car is heading towards our destination, I get a craving for something crunchy and something hot. What's up with that? I'm not even hungry, for heaven's sake! I think it's the Pavlov effect. After years of road trips where we loaded up on munchies and stopped at the coffee kiosk on our way out of town, I'm trained to respond to a fully loaded car.

It makes me stop and ask myself how many other things I do that are simply stimulus and response. Some are beneficial, even basic, like stopping my car at a red light. When it comes to things like relationships, however, knee-jerk reactions (layman's term for stimulus-response) can be detrimental to one's health. We all know that speaking before engaging our brains can result in some awkward, if not destructive, moments. We also know that just reacting to things as they come up is not the way to nurture our relationships.

I got to thinking about my relationship with God. Do I react on a knee-jerk (as-needed or "oops") basis? Dear God, I really want/need ______. Dear God, would You help with _____. Dear God, please heal _____. Dear God, I'm sorry for ____. Dear God, how could You _____?

Or do I nurture our relationship? Do I seek Him out daily as He does me? Do I desire Him even if I don't have a pressing want/need? Do I regularly, lovingly acknowledge Him? Do I lay at His feet just to be near Him? Do I pour myself out and ask nothing in return? Do I actively engage in relationship with Him just because He is who He is?

It's amazing how a crunchy snack and a hot drink elicit profound thoughts towards my Lord. I love that about Him ~ He's even in the ordinary, every day things of my life ~ desirous of a total, not knee-jerk relationship with me.

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all His benefits... (Psalm 103: 1-2)

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live... (Psalm 105:33)