2006-06-06 - Hall Talk

Do you ever walk down a hall and see someone coming towards you? It would be rude just to ignore them and breeze right by. You can't pretend you do not see them. There you are and there they are and so a conversation like this begins again.

"Hey."
"Howdy."
"Doin' all right?"
"Yep, how are you?"
"Good."
"Good."

By that point, if you're lucky, you have passed the person other wise you begin to discuss the weather, or some other meaningless nonsense. That, my friend, is hall talk. Sometimes, it lurks in other places - elevators, bathroom sinks, and grocery store aisles to name a few. These are the conversations we have when we'd rather not be distracted from some objective so we just talk on autopilot.

I bet most of us have a standard greeting, question, reply we use on people. Some of us may even have the exact same conversation with the same people every day.

How often do we try to get by with hall-talking God? Do you mumble the same shallow words to God as part of some morning routine? "God, thank you for another day. Help me to live for you. Amen" Do you pray the same words each night? "God - forgive me of my sins. Help me to sleep well tonight. Amen"

Meaningless drivel! Doesn't the one who made us, the one who redeemed us by his own agonizing bloody death deserve more attention than that? If all you said to your spouse was "Good morning. I love you. Hope you have a great day" and "Good night. Hope you sleep well", would you have a healthy marriage? Would you relationship be growing? Are you closer to the people you meet in the halls of life from all the chitchat?

No! If you want to get closer and if you want the relationship to be healthy, you invest the time to stop and talk. Do you invest time in God?

Psalms 62:8 - Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Pray without ceasing.

1 Timothy 2:8 - I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

You can't spill your guts to someone in passing. Pouring out your heart to someone takes time. If you pray without ceasing and pray everywhere then you have the time to pour out your heart or listen to God pour out his to you. What an amazing feeling to know what God thinks and what concerns him. Jesus poured his out to the father for hours at Gethsemane (Mark 14). In addition, Luke 6:12 records as he listened to the Father pour out his heart to him regarding disciple selection.

You and I can have the same closeness with God that Jesus had, but it takes time. Is talking to God just killing time or your heart's desire? Is your purpose to be closer to him or just to do this and that? Actions speak louder than words, but few words can speak volumes about your heart.

IHFHBOH
Adam

acdum@hotmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

All scripture references from KJV unless otherwise noted