Don't trifle with this.

It was in the backroom of a Domino's Pizza in 1990 that God captivated my heart and I surrendered my life to him. That was when I made my confession of faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior....well Savior anyway. So for 20 years now, I have been confident in my eternal reward...well eternal destination anyway. That means that for the last 20 years I have enjoyed the abundance and joy that comes from serving our merciful and benevolent father....well actually....not so much.

The sad truth is, I SHOULD have enjoyed those things. And even more sad is the fact that I COULD have enjoyed all those things for the last 20 years if only I hadn't trifled with it. If 20 years ago I actually started serving Him as my Lord, I would have had a much different testimony at this point. I know there's no place in a successful life for regrets. Life is short enough without us wasting time talking about "Wouldas and shouldas." But I'm going to do just that for a moment because I think I need to. I've wasted 20 years, what's another half hour or so.

I can't help but think about what miracles I might have seen in my life if I had taken my relationship with Christ more seriously. It nauseates me a little to think about how easy it was for Satan to neutralize me in the battle for men's souls. For the past 20 years, the Kingdom of God has been advancing and that is wonderful. However when I think about the explosion of new souls in China and Russia since 1990 and realize that I had absolutely no part in it (unless some of my sporadic giving happened to make its way into a ministry in that field without me knowing about it) I get a little sick to my stomach. When I think back on all the times I chose to operate in the flesh instead of faith. When I think about all the gifts He's lavished on me and my family that I've squandered over the years. When I think about all the thoughts I didn't take captive. When I think about all the great sermons I was privileged to hear that I received with a shoulder shrug. When I think about what kind of ministry God could have built THROUGH ME in that amount of time I get REALLY nauseated.Who knows how many people I could have seen God set free through my gifts in 20 years!!!! That's enough to bring a man to his knees in remorse.....


....OK enough wallowing in self-incrimination. Time to get over it and get on my feet! It's time to start slinging this weapon I have called "faith" in the enemies direction. It's time to start taking thoughts captive and cast things down. It's time to realize that the whole reason I have been given teachings and encouragements and financial gifts is NOT so I can sit comfortably on my couch while I wait for the rapture. It's high time I start giving God a return on His seed! God is looking to reap a harvest from my life...He's certainly sowed enough seed into it. I can't count the number of times He's come through for us with protection and provision. I pray He will bring many of those times to my remembrance so I can testify about them. The really great news is this....you can't stop the law of sowing and reaping.

If the law of sowing and reaping will work for us, how much more so for God who decreed it?! God has been sowing into my life since I was a twinkle in Dad's eye and since He has ordered the universe to operate on the principle of sowing and reaping, I know He will eventually reap a harvest through me. It embarrasses me to think about how many seasons He has had to patiently endure crop failure because of my slack. The good news is those days are over. No more crop failure! No more trifling with this.

No more toying with things like prayer time and quiet time. No more trifling with finances and this means way more than just tithing. In the coming days, I will spend time in prayer and writing about what it means to not trifle with the things of God. I'm excited about this new chapter in my life. I'm excited to see what challenges and moments of truth I will face as I keep this commitment not to trifle with the things of God. I look forward to the coming days because I know that as I draw near to Him, He'll draw near to me and perhaps some of these past 20 years can be redeemed. Keep an eye on this...you may witnessing the birth of something huge. God bless you richly and superabundantly.