Bible Study God Is Not A Formula

[SillySeth]

This last weekend, I heard Pastor Brian say that God is not a formula for your every want and desire. This really stuck out to me, and I wanted to expound some of my thoughts on the issue. So here is some what that got me thinking.

In America, we have become very selfish beings. We become angry or agitated if the line at McDonald’s is too long, or if we get stuck behind someone driving too slow on the road. We have become a fast-paced, me-centered humanity.
With our selfishness, comes a way of thinking that is all about getting what we want. In a society all about Me!, Me!, and Me!, we get the things we want. Whether that means working a few extra hours at our job in order to get the new iPhone, the slickest new gadget on the market, or the double chocolaty chip Frappuccino® blended crème from Starbucks. We work and get the things we want.

Except, God doesn’t work like that. God is NOT a formula. We can’t say that “bible reading + church on Sundays=God’s Blessing.†God is much more complex! (God is complex; NOT to say that the message of the cross or Christianity is complex). I really feel like people think they can control and manipulate God’s blessing or prosperity in their lives. I do not agree (only on the basis of doing things in order to get blessing... I do believe we can live in such a way that God would be more inclined to bless us, but not by using an equation like a+b=c.)

I believe that God is not interesting in our selfish agendas. God is bigger than that. As human begins, God’s creation, we can’t put God in a box and think we can control him! God is an untamed lion and he refuses to be put in a cage and be subject to our every want and desire. (God wants to hear from you, but he isn't going to hand over every little thing.)

God wants You and He wants to use You. He wants to Prosper You, but everything is on his terms… NOT OURS! We do go to church on Sundays, we do read our bibles, we do disciple others, we do show love, we do pray, and we do have faith. These are all things we do because of what God is doing in us. We do not do them in order to get something worldly or material. We do these things because of our experience with the one and true, living God.

In this society, we must rethink how we live and what we do. Selfishness and materialism have distorted how we think and operate, but God is here to make things clear and set your eyes upon Himself.

Set your eyes on Jesus. Serve Him because of who He is, not because of something you want. God is not a formula to everything you want; don’t treat him like He is! Instead, serve, love, grow, and live for Him because of His greatness.

Stop being selfish and turn to the plans that God has for You. BECAUSE God has plans for You! He wants You!!!! We must turn from ourselves... and turn to God. Deny ourselves, and pick up our crosses.

 

[Devekut]

Great post Seth! Something we always need reminding of.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Yes, this is a great post that people need to be reminded about. I noticed the same thing, except I call it "using God as a big magical genie". One thing that galls me is people half-heartedly go to church, live minimally for God or whatever. Then they get cancer or some other illness. Probably part of that mess is their fault, but all of a sudden God is good enough for healing and they get real religious fast. Of course we pray and people rarely get healed. I don't much blame God. He is a healing God, but not under such circumstances.