Over the past several months my dad has been working hard to renew his private pilot license, and a few days ago he took me to go flying with him!!
Now, if you know my dad, you know that he’s super intelligent & loves telling others what he knows, so of course he taught me all the ins and outs of flying a plane! The thing that caught me most off guard is all the groundwork that goes into preparing for a flight! You see, you can’t just hop in a plane, take off, & hope for the best! We had to spend about an hour preparing the plane, checking all the details, and communicating with the right people before we could take off – & of course there’s much fancier aviation terms for that (;
The Lord used this to remind me that in the same way that a plane needs groundwork before it can successfully fly, we need to do some groundwork on our hearts before we step into the world as Christians.
You can be “checking all the boxes” of a Christian, but lack a relationship with God & friend, because I love you, I don’t want this for you. John 15 tells us to “abide in Him”. He is like a vine & we are like branches. In order to bear fruit, we must abide in Him! To do this, we need to be actively engaging with God through reading His Word, praying, & seeking gospel-centered relationships. Just like a branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine, we cannot point others back to Jesus without being near to God too.
Just like flying a plane needs groundwork, our Christian life needs some groundwork by engaging with God in a way that changes how we live for Him. The time you spend with Him behind the scenes does not go unnoticed (Matt 6:6) & it will change the way we interact with the world.
So, let’s be intentional to do the groundwork! Abide in Christ by reading His Word, praying, and reaching out to other believers. Apart from God, we can do nothing, so ground yourself in Him before you walk into a new day.
You are so loved, friends <3