This was a writing that I've had in my notes app for a couple weeks now. Reading through my notes in an attempt to gain an inspiration for my next blog, I came across this. Hope it's able to speak to your hearts!

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I tend to put all of my energy into the people around me, and I love it. I can confidently say that I find in myself love for everyone that has ever had the least bit of significance in my life, including those who I no longer interact with on the day to day. As you can imagine, this can be a blessing and a curse. I try and cherish every moment I have with everyone.

Sometimes, this pursuit of others can take place of my pursuit of the Lord. I get incredibly caught up in others lives, what they think about me, what I think about them. I get caught up with my own life, my thoughts, my intentions, and my feelings. I give a lot of my energy to so many other lives, rather than the one true Living God, and this can change my mental drastically.

Without my intentions and thoughts fully on Him, I am prone to stray. When this happens, I can physically feel myself, my sinful habits, and my mindset shift. Too "wake up" in a moment and see from a different perspective just how much I have given to everyone else and not Him is a sobering feeling, and one that I don't very much enjoy thats for sure.

James 4:8 "Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Choosing to draw near to the Lord in any way shape or form is one of the most important things you can choose to willingly do. Through this action, the Lord will draw close to you as well, revealing you His character through beautiful, rich, and sometimes terrifying ways. Through your will of choosing Him, you are able to build a relationship. A relationship that you will never be able to find in someone else here on earth, one with your Creator.

Luke 9:23-24 "Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."

By not taking up our cross daily, choosing to not put time into our relationship with the Lord, we are risking our very lives as well as others around us. I find when I am in a season of laziness in my relationship with God, I am not a good ambassador for the kingdom.

We are called to be lighthouses, beacons, and paths to the Lord to our peers and others around us. By choosing not to know Him ourselves, how are we to do that?  We may very well be the only bible someone ever reads so when I say that our relationship with Him is important I mean it.

I strive to be the hands and feet of the Lord. How am I to do that without knowing Him deeply? I strive to be more like my creator. How am I to do that without knowing Him deeply? Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.