Can't get too much...

I was reading The Message today... Soaking in the book of Hebrews, yet again, and finding inspiration from some of the most faithful individuals to have ever lived. However, today, this is what I read in the introduction: We can't get too much of God, can't get too much faith and obedience, can't get too much love and worship. But religion - the well-intentioned efforts we make to 'get it all together' for God - can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us. The main and central action is everywhere and always what God has done, is doing, and will do for us...Our part in the action is the act of faith...

I have to admit that there are days I get so full of myself that I actually start to believe that I have enough of God...enough faith and obedience. And that's when I start to get in the way of His plan. I work so hard at 'getting it all together for God', that I miss the lessons He is trying to teach. I become self-absorbed 'doing' and 'being' all that I believe God wants me to- when all He really wants is me, and for me to want more of Him. He doesn't want me to be religious; He isn't waiting for me to accomplish some task that will finally prove my faith.

The intro goes on to say that we often become 'impatiently self-important' and try to improve our circumstances with our own 'two cents worth'. We add on, we supplement, we embellish. But instead of improving on the purity and simplicity of Jesus, we dilute the purity, clutter the simplicity. We become fussily religious, or anxiously religious. We get in the way.

I fight against being 'anxiously religious'. Jesus isn't complicated. His love and mercy aren't complicated. It's my worldly 'add-ons' that turn my faith and my love into something God didn't intend. It's my seeking of wordly approval, my focus on appearances, my doubts and fears, my need for acceptance and love... These are the things that take my focus away from what's good, and what's of God. I pray that I wouldn't dilute His purity, even if I don't truly comprehend it. I find comfort knowing that all He really wants of me...is me. It doesn't get much more simple than that. Give me more faith, more obedience; let me live a life full of love and worship.