Chicken Wings

Yes, I have said it.... Chicken Wings. All our lives are like sweet & sour chicken wings. For those of you who know I am a vegetarian, this phrase puzzles you even more.

You see, we only have so much time in one day, and the time devote to an activity eats away at our day...

For example,

• That soccer game may eat away an hour or 2, or the computer may take away just as many or more.
• You cell phone can rob you of just one minute, 200 times a day.
• Hanging out with friends can blow away a few hours.
• School or work (if not both) can easily take away half your day.

Before you know it it's time to head to bed, and all of a sudden you think, "I forgot to spend time with God today." So you quickly, but discreetly rush into prayer, hoping God won't notice you haven't been talking to him all day. You say, "Hey God, whats up... umm, thank for this day, and thank you for guiding on this great path... oh ya, also thanks for letting me pass my Algebra 1 class, I mean I wish you would have let me have an "A" or a "B" but a "C" is good too.... umm thanks for my family God.... umm God, it's kinda late, and I had a really long day... Is it ok if we just make this a short one, I am really tired....umm I guess it ok, so thanks God and goodnight, amen."

Right about now, your chicken wing would look kinda like this:

You see those little bits on the ends? That's the part of the day your giving God. I don't know about you, but If someone gave me this (when I wasn't a vegetarian), and said here, this is what I have to give you, after I watched them eat it all (cause you know he is watching you all day). I would probably either flipped out at them, or just stop talking to them.

Ever feel like God is just ignoring you? Like you want his guidance, but he never seems to speak when it's important to you? Maybe it's because you aren't spending enough time with him. So he is ignoring you for a short while so that you can fall far enough to come running back to him.

So at this point, your probably asking, "ok well how much of my 'chicken wing of time' does God want?" You may even be thinking, "ok I think I can give up hanging out with my friends for a couple minutes a day, to hang out with God." Which that's great, cause it's definitely a step in the right direction. So now you have more "meat" on your "chicken wing of time," and your wing now looks like this:

Not much change eh? Maybe because there wasn't much change in you. At this point, you might be thinking something along the lines of "ok, I know where this is going now, and there is no way I am giving up all of my chicken wing."

The Bible speaks of a thing called constant prayer, and it isn't as long and boring as it sounds. You see, when you really grow a heart for God, you begin enjoy talking to him, because he essentially becomes your constant psychiatrist, best friend , adviser, and all sorts of other things that an all-knowing-god can do. You ask a question he answers, he asks you to do something, you trust him. The best part? You don't have to bow your head or close your eyes once.

Some think that, "your not actually talking to 'God' you're really only talking to yourself." Often the people who say that call themselves Christians but do not call themselves "followers of Christ." This is because, they do not have a relationship with him. Most people consider a religion a group of people whom follow good-but-dead figures. They fail to see that Christ lives on even into today. They do not understand the concept of a religion to be a "relationship" but only a following-in-another-persons-footsteps.

We as Followers Of Christ, often forget that it is a relationship. That, there really is someone on the other end of the line. Someone whom cares for us deeply, and is greater than we can imagine. In fact, lets give you a better picture of God. Here is how the Bible, describes God on the throne:

(Revelations 4)

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!”

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.”

Let me ask you again, how much of your chicken wing do you want to give up to God? I don't know about you, but I want to get as close to this as possible:

Big, juicy and full of flavor... well I guess full of time for God. I'll end with this, the first step is to give up some time to build your relationship with God, the next, is just spend all of your time talking with him, asking for advice, asking for forgiveness, asking for guidance.

Amen.