Welcome to my first newsletter! Here’s 1 reflection, 1 book I’m reading, and 1 thing I love.
You Are What You Abide In
I typically take it as a point of pride that I'm not actively on social media.
I post on Facebook very occasionally.
I post on Instagram rarely.
But Twitter?
I'm on that sucker CONSTANTLY.
As a beehive for pastors, scholars, writers, and entrepreneurs it pulls me in with never-ending content and inspiration. Like a moth attracted to a light, I can't turn away from the siren call of Twitter. And the deeper I go into its' abyss, the harder it is to climb back out.
Lately I've been sucked in like never before and as I've gone further into the black hole of Twitter I've noticed something change.
I feel further from God.
I struggle to sit in his presence.
To read scripture.
To pray.
When I'm oversaturated with social media I'm incapable of being rightly saturated by God. When I sit down to abide with Christ, I can't focus because I've been abiding far too much elsewhere.
In John 15, Jesus reveals one of the highest purposes for his coming is for us to abide in him. “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me…the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
Jesus doesn't save us just to make it to heaven when we die or know how we ought to live. He saves us to abide in him as he abides in the Father. To relax in his very being and be soaked up by his presence.
This leads to real transformation and change.
This leads to life.
So whenever I feel off-centered and I'm struggling to relax in Jesus, I know I've been abiding far too much elsewhere.
Lately, I'm abiding in social media more than Jesus. Other times I'm abiding in frustration with a person or circumstance.
Whatever it is, I start to become like the thing I'm abiding in.
When it's Christ? I'm more at peace, gentle, and understanding. When it's Twitter? I'm more anxious and less present to those around me.
Recognizing this forces me to face an uncomfortable truth: I become what I abide in.
This is true for all of us too: We become what we abide in.
Wherever or whatever we are dwelling in most, that we will become.
The next time you are disappointed with yourself, frustrated, unhappy, or angry let it be an opportunity for reflection. Pause and ask yourself, what am I abiding in? If the answer is anything but Christ, don't beat yourself up but turn back to him. Crawl back into the arms of your gentle savior.
We are what we abide in. By God's grace, may we ever be turning back to abide in Him.
One Book I’m Reading
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
It’s outside of what I normally consume but this book is a great snag. Compiled by Eric Jorgenson, it’s a collection of tech entrepreneur Naval Ravikant’s most popular tweets, podcasts, and interviews. Covering everything from generating wealth to living as a rational Buddhist, this is one of the most interesting books I’ve read in awhile.
Here are 3 quotes which really stuck with me.
"You know that song you can’t get out of your head? All thoughts work that way. Careful what you read.”
In other words, be careful what you abide in.
“Your real résumé is just a catalog of all your suffering. If I ask you to describe your real life to yourself, and you look back from your deathbed at the interesting things you’ve done, it’s all going to be around the sacrifices you made, the hard things you did.”
I can’t stop thinking about this one.
“A happy person isn’t someone who’s happy all the time. It’s someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don’t lose their innate peace.”
A question I’m asking: How can I abide in Christ so that events will not throw off my innate sense of his presence?
One Thing I’m Loving
I can’t stop listening this song from Iron City Worship’s latest EP. It beautifully moves throughout the entirety of Scripture. You will not regret listening to this.