Tame your parakeet and come from among them!
Tradition can be beautiful. There are things that I love about the Christian Community and some of the traditions that have been fostered. Some traditions are borrowed like the Christmas Holiday being the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. I’ve grown to love Christmas. I feel so much happiness and joy during the season. Christians attend church on Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day and these holidays make for good family days for us to come together and remember the Lord. That's a good thing.
However, tradition doesn’t always equal truth and it doesn’t promote an atmosphere of change. It can also perpetuate an atmosphere of religious works; looking faithful to Christ but not necessarily.
In conversations and experience with other Christian Women I’ve noticed a trend of quoting scriptures that they don’t really feel. However, you hear the scripture so much it decreases the effect of the scripture that they no longer really believe in what you're saying. It’s like learning a song that you once believed in but now when you hear the song, you know the words but the spirit of the song no longer touches you. For example, the scripture quote, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). I’ve heard women quote this scripture as if it would automatically elicit joy and strength in them as they weren’t happy or strong at all. The scripture itself is truth but in these cases, it didn't illicit change. When do you move from temporary encouragement to greater change?
The Word of God should be changing our lives. Many times, you pick up sayings and quotes from what you hear from others. There may be times when what you pick up isn’t even scripture but sounds like it. Other times you take for granted the scriptures you already know and parakeet them over and over until they have no lasting effect on your life.
Don’t get me wrong. There are some scriptures that you may love that are still powerful to you and life changing. For instance, I love Psalm 91 because God showed up in my life when I was leaning on the power of this scripture. Yet others may quote this scripture and not living in the power it has but it sounds good to say.
What am I getting at? You may be too comfortable. You may be so comfortable in your relationship with God that you actually stand in the way of going deeper. Scripture should be shocking and changing your life. You should be getting a new revelation frequently even with a single same scripture. It should show itself to you in a new way of God speaking to you. You should be praying over scripture for a new meaning. You should also look for and read scriptures you’ve never read before to give you greater understanding. You should be living a powerful life based in God’s living word; not yours or someone else’s repeated word. And the only way to get there is to get the Word for yourself without leaning on the Word that others are getting for themselves or repeating themselves.
You should treat God’s Word as the Jewel that it is. You should be approaching God’s Word as the Person/Spirit of Christ. It is getting to know Him; His character, His love, His truth, His wisdom, and His message. In the Word, Jesus is Flesh and Spirit. He IS. He Exists. He’s Alive! He wants a relationship with you personally. He wants to talk to you, give you revelation, give you hope, encourage you finitely, but most of all he wants to change your life. Repeating a scripture or what someone says isn’t interacting with Christ, it’s interacting with religion. It’s talking to tradition. Religion and tradition might be fun at times and give you a sense of belonging and organization but if you’re looking for Christ, His Power, & Powerful Transformation, you have to tame your Parakeet!
Remember this: Spirit brings the Word to Life. Word without Spirit isn't the word.
Come from among them!