More Like Falling In Love

Growing up I had a very legalistic view of Christianity.  The only thing I was ever exposed to was along the lines of "You better follow God's rules, or else."  Well, I didn't want any mart of that.  Why follow the rules?  What made those rules so important?  How was anything going to be different if I did or didn't follow the rules?

I'm the kid who has to touch the burner to make sure you aren't just saying its hot--I need to verify that it actually is hot.  I'm the kid who wouldn't take, "because I said so" for an answer.  I needed you to explain why I couldn't have a cookies before dinner.  "Because I said so" makes you an illogical tyrant.  Once you explained that a cookie was going to spoil my dinner, that cookies didn't have the nutrition that I needed to grow big and strong, but that the dinner that was on its way would fill me up with proper vitamins and give me the energy I needed, I realized asking for a cookie every night was pointless.  Also, offer me an apple if I'm starving...there is no need for a kid to be hangry...just sayin.

So, you get the picture--I'm not ever going to just believe something because someone tells me to...that's just not how I work.  I need reasons, proof.

Once someone finally explained that Christianity isn't about following rules (I'll break them) but a relationship, one that develops over time, between me and God, things started falling into place for me.  I never understood why people would just follow a bunch of rules because someone told them to.  I was raised in a home that taught me to question everything, even authority, if things didn't make sense to me.  (I'd like to add that I was taught to do so respectfully)  And nobody ever explained that when someone loves you to the point of giving anything to be close to you, and you return that love, you want to abide by their desires for you.

I guess once I finally saw the other side of Christianity, not the "religious" side, but the relationship side, I was done for!  I'm such a relational person-I love loving people, especially if those people love me.  When it became a heart issue and not a head issue, it was easy to jump in, to turn my life over to God and live for Him, and His will for me.

This Jason Gray song never grows old, because it speaks exactly how I feel...It's gotta be more like falling in love than something to believe in, more like losing my heart than giving my allegiance.