Windows Wide Open

Are your windows open?
By: Michael Weber

Last night that was the question Curt left us with. By “windows open” we mean: Are you living out your faith for everyone to see?

Like we heard last night, a big part of living with your windows wide open is not being ashamed of your faith. It’s being able to live totally following God in any situation and not worrying about what people think, just like Daniel. The reason Daniel was able to do that was because he was consistent. If Daniel only prayed to God a couple times a month, whenever he felt like it or whenever Babylonian Idol wasn’t on TV, then there’s probably a good chance that he wouldn’t START praying when King Darius made it illegal. The same thing applies to us as well.

For us, a consistent relationship with God would include letting God speak to us during our quiet times, prayer, and Bible reading. In addition to maintaining our personal relationship with God, we must also focus daily on how we can follow God with our actions. To name a few, this would include: the way we talk to/about other people, the things we choose to do or not do in our free time, or our willingness to talk to other people about what God has done in our lives.

Now if we don’t commit to consistently maintain that relationship with God when we are alone in our room during our free time …. How will we magically start following God when we are at with people criticizing us for being “Christiany”? Think about it, if you hardly ever pray or read your Bible, what are the chances you will pray at the lunch table before you eat or read your Bible in study hall when everyone can see you? This is exactly why it is so important to be consistent. It won’t happen overnight, but we need to start working toward that consistent relationship with God. Eventually we won’t even have to think about it when we are around other people; following God won’t have to be a tough choice, it will just be what we ALWAYS do.

Take some time and think about each of these questions:

(Write down your answers and remind yourself this week what you want to work on)

1) What do I do to maintain my relationship with God?
2) What are some actions that I choose to do or don’t do because I am trying to follow God?
3) What are some things I need to do more consistently?
4) Am I living with my “windows open” no matter where I am?
5) What are some things that keep me from being consistent?
6) How can I overcome these barriers?