My life as a woodpecker

This morning my mom and I sat out on our deck for our morning quiet time. The cold front came in so it was great weather for a hoodie and a big mug of coffee. I like sitting on the deck because it gets me out of the house and reminds me of the stillness and peace that God provides us through nature. It slows me down and removes me from all the craziness of life. It also reminds me how God has specifically designed everything in this world to work together for Him and through Him. Romans 11:36 says, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things." I think it's important to get out of our houses, offices, and wherever that can take us away from the beauty of God's creation. So get outside for a little bit and enjoy God's creation!

While we were on the deck, we heard, "tap tap tap...tap tap tap." We looked around, through the trees and there we spotted the red-headed woodpecker . I've seen woodpeckers before, but I never really watched them longer than a couple seconds. This morning, however, was different. I kept hearing the "tap tap tap" and I couldn't focus on my reading. It was like the woodpecker wanted to get my attention or maybe I have a slight case of ADHD...who knows. Anyway, I turned my attention to the woodpecker who was determined to get his breakfast out of that tree. When you think of a woodpecker, what comes to mind first? Annoying? Loud? Determined? Well, as I watched him for awhile and realized that this is a creature of persistence. He would not stop pecking until he got his food. He was devoted. He was dedicated. He was persistent. So it made me think...

Am I devoted, dedicated, and persistent in my walk with Christ? Or do I peck for a little while and then give up? What about you?

Since my mom and I were out late for the TobyMac concert last night (which was awesome!!), we didn't make it to church but we watched church on a live podcast. It was funny because Pastor Gregg talked about how Christians called to be devoted to Christ, being consistent in growing in our faith. I automatically thought of the woodpecker being devoted to that tree full of bugs and worms. I knew then that I should blog about persistence and dedication!
Funny how God works, huh?

Pastor Gregg based his sermon on Acts 2:41-42. Acts 2:42 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." This scriptures tells us that we should be devoted to learning, fellowship, and communion with the Lord.

• So how do we learn? We read the Bible, listen to teachers, and converse with others to get different perspectives. When we learn about God, we grow closer to Him.
• We should also be devoted to fellowship. Through fellowship, we have the opportunity to love and grow faith based relationships that will hold us accountable in growing in Christ.
• We should be devoted to being in communion with God, meaning in prayer, reading His Word, and participating in the Lord's Supper. When we do these things, the Holy Spirit intercedes and we are in communion with God. Our faith increases, as well as our love for God. What could be better than that?!

Psalm 37:5 says, "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." When we dedicate ourselves to God, just like the woodpecker "tap tap tapping" at the tree, we will find promises and treasures. The woodpecker finds its food after persisting and we find what God wants for us. It could be new found talents or gifts. It could be new dreams and goals. Most importantly, when we persist and dedicate ourselves our faith increases. When we grab a hold of our faith, just like the woodpecker gets its food, we are energized to keep persisting! It's like a cycle! The main point is that we should be like the woodpecker, always dedicating ourselves to God and never giving up on Him because in Him we find life and we definitely don't want to miss out.

If you are following along with the read-your-bible-in-a-year plan, Sunday's are catch up day. So this week we read Matthew chapters 1-14.