You know that feeling when you write a very quick email, hit “send” and immediately regret it?  Yeah… I’m feeling that right now.

I rushed through my last post.  I started out right, with the man at the coffee shop pointing out the importance of intentionality in following Jesus.

But then I got all dry.

And impersonal.

Not a very good examp!e of intentionality for a piece about intentionality.

Maybe if I repeat the word “intentionality” enough in this follow up post, the message about intentionality would come through clearer.

Maybe I should just get a bit personal here.

When I’m not being intentional in my wa ok with God, I know it.  I feel it.  I feel overwhelmed by life.  I feel empty.  My mind is certainly not renewed.  I feel a great burden – the burden of not following Christ as I should.

You see, following the Lord brings us freedom.  It’s like any other relationship in that, if you do nothing to nurture it, it will atrophy.

Wither.

Shrivel.

And while God will never let go of His children, it sure is a better life when we’re intentional about our relationship with God.

Which means being intentional about seeking Him first.

Which means being intentional about time in prayer and the Word.

Which means being intentional about remembering t hat God works all things to the good of His children.

Which means being intentional about remembering I am God’s child.

Which means being intentional about loving others.

Which means being intentional about letting go of the junk that keeps me from God.

Being intentional means keeping your focus on what’s important.  Think about Peter’s instruction about anxiety: cast all your cares on God because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).  Casting is an intentional act.

You see your target.

You aim at said target.

You launch.

God takes care of our problems.  But we have to be intentional about casting our worries on Him, choosing to believe in – trust – God over our own perceptions.

That’s what living intentionally in God is: choosing to follow Him even when it makes you uncomfortable.  Even when it makes no sense. Even when it feels too hard.

In Christ, living intentionally = loving intentionally.

Loving God.

Loving others.

Seeking God first requires intentionality.  It means following Him, not our own selfish desires. Even when it makes no earthly sense.

Intentionality – seeking God’s kingdom first – reminds me God is God and I am not.  In fact, it shows me the depth of my need for the Lord in all things, at all times.  It makes me grateful for His forgiveness, which I do not deserve and cannot ezrn.  It makes me grateful for His love, which I could never ever repay.

Intentionality.  There.  I had to say it one more time.