Are You 'Doing' Or 'Being'?

By Gobel Brockman



I once read a story of a lady who got married. After the wedding, the husband changed, becoming very dominating and controlling. He went so far as to actually write a list of the things he expected from her in the marriage. Every aspect of her life and marriage quickly became a burden to her. After a few years, he became ill and passed away. A short time later, she met another man, fell in love, and got married. This time was different. He loved her and treated her with respect and admiration, and she did the same. Several years later, she was cleaning out some old papers and found the list her first husband had written. She discovered that she was doing every single thing on the list in this marriage as well. Only this time, she wasn't even noticing, because she was doing them out of love. She wasn't 'doing' what a wife's supposed to do, she was 'being' a wife. And being one gladly.

As Christians, it's easy to forget that there's a difference between 'doing' something and 'being' something. How often do we fall into the trap of, "It's Sunday, time to get up and go to church. That's what Christians 'do'." "I'll write out my tithe check. That's what Christians 'do'." Before long, the whole Christian thing becomes a burden to us because it becomes an obligation to us. What once brought us joy now becomes just more things that we 'do'. I've been there. I'm sure most of you have too. In Revelation chapter 2, Jesus spoke to an entire church that was there. He basically told them, "I see all the things you're doing, and they're good things. But I have a major problem with you. You've lost the love you had for Me." Ouch.

As I look back on my Christian experience, the times where things were going the best were the times I was 'doing' all the stuff Christians do was because I was spending time in prayer and Bible study, drawing closer to God and putting Him first in my life. I wasn't going to church because that's what Christians 'do', I was going because I couldn't wait to get there. In the Bible Jesus said that if two or three meet together in His name, He would be there, and I just wanted to be where He was. It was when I let my love for God grow cold that it all became an 'obligation'. I don't want that to ever happen again. In the story I began with, all the things the lady did in the second marriage weren't duties, they were acts of love. That's what I want my relationship with Christ to be like.

Well, time to log off and get ready for church. Not because that's what Christians 'do'. I just want to be where He is.