I love...lamp

I love lamp! I love…lamp. Ryan, do you really love lamp or are you just adhering to today’s pop-culture? I’m really not sure what you are talking about. You’re just looking around the room and saying you love the first thing that you see. Maybe you should make a Napoleon Dynamite reference next. Your Mom makes Napoleon Dynamite references. Leave me alone, ahh!

Life has been interesting…I graduated from University, watched a number of friends get married, moved to the east coast, made a big backpacking trip before that, turned 23 a few weeks ago…I’ve got the rest of my life ahead of me. I realize that at some point during the last year I became a real boy. Pinocchio reference…good one. You’ll soon be running around with a high pitched voice proclaiming, “I’m a real boy,” and doing little jigs. Go away…I’m trying to tell a story.

Twelve years ago, this past Thursday, I was baptized into Christ and gave my life to Him. A good portion of that time I did what I could to be a “good Christian.” I spent a lot of my time doing religious things, wearing religious stuff, and talking religious talk, all the while I felt I was just looking around saying, “I love Jesus.” You mean you were just seeing Jesus and saying that you love Jesus. Yes…kinda…go away.

In my attempts at my Christian walk I have come to realize that I’ve spent a lot of my time merely saying, “I love Jesus,” in the same way that I love a good cup of coffee. The difference is…I talk about coffee a lot; I spend a good amount of time with coffee, I tell people about my coffee, and share my coffee with my friends. It seemed as though I was more obsessed with coffee then I was with Jesus. Think about some of the things you “love.” How does this compare with your love for Jesus?

My best friend was dating a girl that he thought he was in love with. I was pretty sure that he was because he talked about her all the time and spent all of his time with her. We took a road trip together to Colorado Springs and I’m pretty sure she was the topic of conversation for more than half of the trip. I could tell he kind of liked her.
They got married so I guess he liked her. Ok, ok, I know he liked her. He’s crazy about her! I can see how real their love is for each other in the way that they act, in how they talk, in the constant smile on their faces. God has given us an amazing institution in marriage. He even calls us the Bride of Christ.

I have played with this idea of being “Christ’s Bride” in my head a lot. I have always understood that I made the commitment with Christ when I got baptized but the relationship aspect of it wasn’t really explained to me very much. When I really started to see myself as the living Bride of the living Christ I began to realize the extent of how much it hurts Him when I continue to do the stupid things I do in my life.

If someone asked Kent, my friend from before, if he knew Leah, his wife, he wouldn’t beat around the bush with his answer or be quiet with it so that he wouldn’t draw attention to himself. He would openly express that not only does he know Leah but that he is crazy about her, that he loves her, that he’s committed to her for the rest of his life.

I often have to question my zeal for my engagement with Christ. We, as Brides, need to show off our rings so that others might share in such a great engagement.