Ever since I started going to church on my own, I always chose a church that was right around the corner. Either I could walk to it or it took me less than 15 minutes to drive to it. However, on New Years Eve 2014 I came to a realization while at church service.

It is tradition in my family to attend midnight church service to bring in the new year but since I had only been in Texas for one year and my aunt and uncle were not having a service at their church, I had to find a church that would have a service. So I found a church, but it was on the other side of the city—about 30-40 minutes away. Since it was a holiday, it didn’t bother me to drive that far plus, I didn’t think I would enjoy the service that much anyway therefore I probably wouldn’t come back. I was definitely wrong.

A nationally well-known pastor leads the church we went to. He opened my eyes through his message and my uncle liked him as well. My uncle, who’s a pastor, stated he is an anointed man of God. After the service, I told my aunt how much I enjoyed the service, but it was out of my way to attend the church every Wednesday and Sunday. Then it came to me— what if Jesus thought that way when dying for the sins of the world? Or what if he thought that way when he was blessing me? I felt so bad all of a sudden for saying this and I began to meditate on what God was speaking to my spirit at that moment. God said to me, “so many times you have failed to get to know me and settled for less because you wouldn’t go out of your way for me. Think of how many doors and opportunities could have happened if only you went out of your way to get to know me better. How would you feel if someone who said they loved you wouldn’t go 30 miles out of their way to be with you?” I felt awful and immediately repented for what I said.

I know others have done this as well, and in other ways, too. We put carnal things before Him like spending first fruits on selfish wants first instead of tithing, or saying I have to eat before I study the Bible tonight or let me take a little nap and then it’s the next day and we didn’t even open it and the whole cycle of succumbing to fleshly wants starts again. We say “God first, everything else second,” but our actions aren’t showing it. We need to make Him 1^st priority in our life and that means leaving our comfort zone to be closer to Him. That means going out of our way to get to know Him better.

Yours truly,

Ashley

p.s.

Comment on this post. I would love to get feedback on how this relates to you.