Make it your own

So one time, my friend was asking me about my story. How I came to salvation. As I told him about growing up in a christian household, he finally said, "So when did you make it your own?"

The moment he said that it was like time froze, I really liked what he said, and it seemed like everything that had happened to me was summed up in that phrase. After a split-second lapse to admire the question I continued to share.

I liked what he said because it encompasses the foundation of Christianity. It was not meant to be between me and my church, or me and another Christian. It is supposed to be God, and His love for me.

Because it is when you "make it your own", that you start taking responsibility for your hunger for God, you take responsibility for knowing the spiritual condition of your own soul, and of others. It is when you begin to solely depend on God and not on man, when the opinion of God matters more than the opinion of man. When you "make it your own", beloved, that is when you walk in faith, love, and hope. Under the shadow of His wings, in the peace that is beyond understanding, in the joy that is full, and in His arms of love.

The condition of my soul was no longer dependent on the condition of my church, or my pastor, or the people around me, or the conferences I went to. The condition of my soul became dependent on how much time was spent in His throne room; the secret place. To the degree I was chastened by the Holy Spirit was also the degree of the prosperity of my soul. No longer influenced by how 'on fire' my youthgroup was, but the fact that I burned because the passion of Christ was born in me.

It is the secret joy in knowing the love of the Father, and that He. Is. Good. All. the. time.

Make it your own if you have not. Make it your own for the sake of those who haven't. Make it your own because the Father wants you to. Make it your own because you don't know what you have, or what you have access to until you do.

-brandon.