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Friday, April 25, 2008

Spirituality

An edited version of my Morning Thought, for BBC Radio Wiltshire
I’d like to conclude this week’s Morning Thoughts by talking about spirituality. Did you hear about the man in Bradford on Avon who got trampled by a herd of cows? Seems like he only escaped “dairy herd danger” because a passer by came to his aid. I don’t know what effect this has had on the unfortunate gentleman’s spiritual life. But events like that can make us think about spiritual and eternal matters. Lots of people today have realised that there must be more to life than fleeting riches of this world. Their souls long for spiritual fulfilment. God has made us for himself and we can find no rest apart from him. Some try Transcendental Meditation. Others just like rambling in the countryside in an attempt to find the divine in nature – just look out for those cows!

Christian spirituality is a bit different. It is not first and foremost a human attempt to seek God. It’s the other way around - God has come down to seek us. The Father sent his Son Jesus Christ into our world to bring us back to him. By his death upon the cross Jesus has dealt with all the wrong things that separate us from God. For the believer, God is not some distant, far off being. He has drawn near to us by the presence of his Spirit. In Jesus we can know God as our heavenly Father. Just think of that – having a Father/child relationship with your Maker!

Our relationship with God develops as we pray and read his Word, the Bible. But Christian spirituality is no private affair. It leads to involvement in a believing community, the church. We grow spiritually by worshipping together, learning together, and caring for each other. So, if you are interested in spirituality, do something worthwhile this weekend. Why not go along to a church where you can find out more Jesus, who came from heaven to bring us near to God?

Well, Graham, I’d just like to say thanks very much you for having me on your show this week!
You can listen again here, about 45 minutes into the show.

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