It begins with us (part 2)

OK, well that's great, but where do I start?

I was talking with a friend the other day and he had this analogy that most men can definitely relate to and that is the whole idea of instructions.  Most men as you know will take the instructions and throw them out, (same goes for maps), it seems like any kind of directions for how we are to do things we just want to ignore and do things on our own.  Then when things don't go well we give up and swallow our pride and pull out the directions or the map (or have it thrown at us).

This is not unlike how we face manhood, we tend to think "I got this" and do things the way we think is best.  And then I hear Dr. Phil say, "so how's that working for you?", and for me, I have to say, not to well.  It's when things aren't going so well that we might give up and turn to the instructions and begin reading looking for the answers or maybe just hoping that reading will do the trick.  I know we tend to think things go bad because we don't read and pray enough, but I say even if you are reading and praying that things will still go wrong, but we will handle them differently.  I know things are going to go wrong because of what James says about considering it pure joy when you face trials, not if, but when we face trials.  No doubt about it we are going to face trials of many kinds, and believe it or not, it is good.

I say all this to bring it to a point, and that point is, it begins with us.  God the Father desires to have a relationship with us,  he wants us to know him better (by reading his word) and to rely on him for everything and to communicate with him (through prayer and worship).  Instead of trying to be a better Father and Husband, lets focus on having a better relationship with God and allow him to direct our paths on being a better Father and Husband.

Several years ago I wrote this on a sticky note and came across it recently.

We can't lead until we follow, and they can't follow until we lead.

Our family can't follow unless we are leading, but we can't lead them unless we are following.  Let us set the example by following after God, by spending time reading the word and praying and focusing on our relationship with God and trust that he is going to lead us down the path that He has set before us.

I have been down the road of doing things on my own and then going to God when things got bad.  When I would do this, reading was a task, something I felt I had to do to get back in God's good grace so that things would go well for me.  I wasn't reading to know God better I was reading so things would go better.

Here is a suggestion for reading.

• Read out of a desire to know God more
• Read to find out who you are, in Christ
• Start in the New Testament
• Have a reading plan 

If you find reading the bible difficult, then I would suggest checking out youversion.com this is a bible reading app that you can get on the computer or as an app on your phone.  It has several versions to read from and they have a bunch of reading plans to choose from including devotional readings.  You can even play the audio of the readings and listen or read along.