Crazy Touch

Barometer Check

I love to read. When I finish a really good book, I feel sad. It's like I'm saying goodbye to a dear friend. I also feel sad because I realize our house is a little messier, and I need to start doing my chores regularly again. But when I read a book that challenges me to grow in my relationships, especially in my relationship with Christ, I can get really uncomfortable. Not because my house gets messier than usual, but because I realize what a mess I am without the Lord.

These spiritual barometer checks used to overwhelm me. I'd feel like a failure in so many areas. I felt like I could never be the kind of person I felt God wanted me to be. I felt my "spiritual to do list" was never ending. In what should have been encouragement, the enemy used well-meaning Christian authors' words to hurl insult after insult in my mind.

Don't get me wrong...I still love absorbing myself in seasoned Christian authors' books to gain spiritual insight. Among my favorites these days are Anne Graham Lotz, Sylvia Gunter, R.T. Kendall, Gary Smalley and Christine Wyrtzen. But I've thankfully learned to cherish God's Word first and foremost and find my ultimate security in the character and promises of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So during any spring cleaning season, I plan on re-organizing my pantry and changing around a few shelves in my kitchen, but I also plan on taking an inventory of what God has already accomplished for me through Christ and how He continues to change my life for the best. Why don't you take a few moments to find those Bible verses that God uses to speak special meaning into your heart and thank Him for cleansing you through the blood of Christ.