Back to Living Properly

"If it is I who determines where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature.  But if God determines where He is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me.  This place is the Cross of Christ.  And whoever would find Him must go to the foot of the Cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands.  This is not according to our nature at all, it is entirely contrary to it.  But this is the message of the Bible, not only in the New but also in the Old Testament...
And I would like to tell you now quite personally: since I have learnt to read the Bible in this way- and this has not been for so very long- it becomes every day more wonderful to me.  I read it it the morning and the evening often during the day as well, and every day I consider a text which I have chosen for the whole week, and try to sink deeply into it, so as to really to hear what it is saying.  I know that without this I could not live properly any longer." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

My kids have been on Spring Break for the past week.  Our daily routine has been thrown aside in favor of sleeping later, taking the days more slowly and making opportunities for fun adventures with friends and family.  Of course, this is a very good thing and we have all enjoyed it very much!  But one thing that I have lost in the shuffle of this week was my quiet time with God.  I confess that I have not lingered in prayer or spent time in His Word.  And this has been apparent in my thoughts and actions this week.  So, even thought I have to rise early tomorrow morning and pick up the busy routines once again, I am truly looking forward to communing with my Father regularly again.  Without this I cannot live properly anymore either!

More to come on Bonhoeffer!