Just Lookin’

I was killing some time in the mall and I went into one of the department stores. I was actually out and about taking care of some things and decided to walk around and browse a few things. You ever have one of those days when you have no intention of buying anything but you feel like seeing what is out there? Well, that was me today.

While walking down one of the aisles, a store associate came up and asked, “May I help you with anything?” As you can guess, my response was “No thanks, I am just looking.”

Unfortunately, many singles go through life “just lookin’”. We find ourselves in the department stores of God’s providence and we would rather browse than buy. We have access to a storehouse of divine promises, but we don’t want to step out on faith. Instead, we choose to keep our faith in our pockets.

What are some examples of singles “just lookin’”?

• We adopt the victim mentality and refuse to change. This can apply to not exercising to take care of our health, not reading to expand our minds, not going to Bible study to learn more about God’s word or not resisting sexual temptation.
  
  
• We spend more time looking for faults in others than on looking for ways that we can grow. Sure it is easier to point out the faults of people we interact with, but it requires a commitment to change when we recognize our own vulnerabilities.
  
  
• We stop believing that God has great things in store for us. A husband or a wife? A better paying job? A successful new business venture? A true friend? Spiritual maturity? Not for me. Not because God will not grant these things. Rather, we won’t receive these things because we are too lazy to put God’s promises to work in our lives. In the mode of not believing in God’s promises, it is easier to complain than it is to sweat a little to grow a lot.
  

And I could go on. The list is too extensive to mention everything. So don’t think you are off the hook if what you are dealing with is not listed!

When we “just look”, we do not cash in our faith in God. Sure we talk a good game about being a child of the King, but we sure don’t act like it. It is almost like we go out of our way to find something to complain about. We aren’t doing those things that will move us closer to our God-ordained potential and yet we complain about the lack of progress in our lives. For some of us, we are doing the right things, sort of. The truth of the matter is many of us are just going through the motions. We go to church because we have a sense of obligation to go. Not because we can get another dose of God’s word. We read the Bible because we heard that is the thing that Christians do. Not because that is one of the ways that God whispers in our ears. Whether we are doing nothing or we are just going through the motions; we are as vulnerable to sexual temptation, spreading false rumors, dating spiritually incompatible people, not taking care of our spiritual and physical health as we were when we first gave our hearts to God.

So the next time God asks, “Can I help you with anything today”; take my advice and don’t say, “No thanks, I’m just looking.”