Faith with a Side of Fries

Life decides to hurl a string of nasty curve balls at the most inopportune moments. Your previously balanced lifestyle now finds itself challenged. And all the while you recognize God is necessary in both involvement and intervention. However, you have three meetings sandwiched between five classes, followed by choir practice, a Greek social event and an internship starting the next day. 

You wish you could fix the problem by adding four to five hours to the day. But what is really being overlooked here is that you’ve let your agenda become so saturated with extracurriculars, any time with God is now on-the-go, like a quick pit stop at Sonic during happy hours. 

Seriously, who has a free moment to spend an extended quiet time with God these days? Who can offer up sacrifices of prayer, intercession, times in the Word, thanksgiving and service where the time is measured in hours, not minutes? Why are people so content with serving and ‘loving’ a Creator who has ultimately been turned into "fast God?" 

Christian collegians around the country have made the all-too-common mistake of compartmentalizing God. It’s one of several post-modern spiritual diseases sweeping this country. We don’t utilize God’s power in our lives in every aspect. God is our focus in the shower in the mornings and by our bedsides late at night, but in between He is hardly accessed – reduced to a checklist, a pickup or a mere craving, for food - or better yet, fast food! 

We talk to Him, worship Him and dwell on Him on the fly, whether on route to the next class or in our many daily mini-breaks when our attention is split among 10-20 thousand different things.

How do we address the problem? Well, like most circumstances, acknowledge the problem and make it known – whether to a friend or an authority figure (though in every case, it deserves to be mentioned to God). But this is basic. 

The step that is often missed by young adults ties back to the prayer element. Do we pray about everything we put our hands to? Do we seek God in every little detail or just turn to Him on the ‘big’ decisions? Do we openly join any club or embrace any opportunity that intrigues or entices us without allowing God to join our decision-making process?

Such questions are imperative to dwell upon.

God was never meant to be treated like a Happy Meal or a routine rendezvous in a drive-through. In the end, our faith must continuously be examined as the main entrée of our being, rather than being limited to just a side of fries.



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