At CVM we are focused on sharing the good news of Jesus to as many men as we can.
So, in light of that, I decided to put together a three blog series to help us stay in the fight and keep Jesus front and centre during lockdown.
I think lockdown 3.0 has helped me to identify the routines that I need to have in place when it comes to following Jesus and keeping my focus. The reality of following Jesus is that there are times a definite routine becomes helpful. I have found that integrating these ideas into my routine somewhere helps keep that focus.
Worship music.
Never underestimate the work of worshipping God on your own. Music and worship songs, the right ones, can literally move us from reaching for another quick swig of whisky to numb the isolation and boredom to feeling connected, alive and in touch with the Holy Spirit.
Loads of times I will go for my walk with the dog, or just on my own – headphones on and in no time with the help of Ron Kenoly and Higher Places, I am feeling a massive shift in my heart and mind.
God really is closer than we think.
The Bible
There are times in lockdown 3.0 where I struggled to read the bible with any great enthusiasm and focus. Something that has helped is to set some goals to read the bible with my eldest daughter.
Apps like YouVersion Bible App are amazing because of the range of reading plans that you can find there. You can also do these plans with mates, which helps to add that extra momentum to your Bible reading.
I am also using Dwell. This is an audio bible because, the truth be told, I really don’t like reading, but listening to the bible being read can really help. You can add a touch of background music to the audio narration too, sounds a bit trivial but it really helps keep your mind in the right gear.
Find intentional ‘stillness.’
I write this from my kitchen table as my eldest has an online lesson going, music and the endless ping of ‘Snaps incoming.’ My son is on his breaktime playing Roblox and eating sugar. I also have my youngest daughter playing ‘who let the dogs out’ full volume in the living room with our 46kg dog running round in circles.
Sometimes there is literally no space in lockdown 3.0 for your own thoughts, at all. I am trying to work, plan, vision cast for 2021 and reply to emails in this chaos so connecting to God can just feel like another box to tick.
Intentional stillness breaks that and it holds some real power in our spiritual life.
For me, it’s sit in the car with a packet of Chilli Heatwave Doritos – still, calm and think about God, what is he saying? How does he want to speak into my life?
Image Credit: Glen Carrie
