What else is there?

I heard about a woman who was dying of cancer. She had only nine months to live, but instead of the usual sky diving or visiting fun countries or other 'bucket list' type things, she spent almost all her time reading the Bible. When the person who told me this story remarked to the woman that she sure spent a lot of time in Scripture, the ill woman just looked at her and said, "I've only got nine months to learn this. I only have until God takes me home to get this." So morning, noon, and night, she could be found in the Word, just drinking in the Lord.

The pastor of a church I recently visited told the congregation about an old man who was a friend of the pastor's family. One day the pastor and his wife took the friend out to lunch at a restraunt. The pastor and his wife soon found themselves carrying on the bulk of the conversation, with the old gentleman being very quiet and rarely speaking up. Finally the subject of Jesus came up, and he lit up and began talking non-stop. For at least an hour the old man spoke about his love for God and about the wonders of the Lord. When he stopped, the pastor's wife smiled and said, "You sure like talking about Jesus, don't you!" The older gentleman paused, looked at her, and finally just asked, "What else is there?"

It's this kind of devotion to the Lord that encourages me to strive to change, learn, and grow in my faith. As someone who's been "in the church" virtually my whole life (as I know many have), I've certainly gone through periods in my walk where I feel like I "know it all" or there's just nothing new to learn. Which is completely ridiculous sounding-- it's impossible to know everything about God. But surely others have experienced the feeling that sometimes our Bible studies are too predictable, our church services too boring, and our religious books too quasi-deep. Even though I know I'm serving an incomrehensible and almighty God, it can be far too easy to slip into the "been there done that" mode of Christianity.

Which is why it's so important not to just be a Sunday Christian, or one who has a set 15-minute Bible study a day, or one who just shows up for Bible study to check "fellowship" quickly off the list. It's not even about balancing those great things and having a walk that's measured and planned and scheduled. It's a right now, every day- even while I'm sick or talking about movies or angry or facebooking or tired or on the phone or relaxing or blogging- type of thing. It's always.

We have such a short time to know God. To share God. To try and fathom God. To know God. To know God.

What else is there?