Going Through the Motions

Ever find yourself just going through the motions? You know what I mean. You do what you are supposed to do, but your heart is not in it. Or you do just what is expected of you, but no more. I think we all have found ourselves going through the motions for one reason or another. The reasons can be varied. Maybe you're tired. You just want to get through whatever you have to do, so that you can rest for awhile, or take a nap, or get a good night's sleep. Maybe you are doing whatever is expected of you, because you "have to". It's your job, whether you like it or not. Maybe your focus is somewhere else, and you are going through the motions without even thinking. That happens when we are confronted by something that is so important, that it steals our attention away from everything else. Those important things could include such things as sickness, financial difficulties, marital stress, physical problems, relational disfunction, threats, suicide and death, just to name a few.

Going through the motions is dangerous. If we're not careful, we can get really hurt or damaged by just going through the motions. Saul experienced that in 1 Samuel 13. His son Jonathan claimed God's promise that He would give all of the land of Israel to His chosen people, the Jews. The Philistines were the enemies of Israel, so Jonathan along with his army of 1000 took one of their cities back in an attack on the Philistine garrison at Geba. Yup, you guessed it. The Philistines were ticked.

How did they respond? They showed up on Saul's doorstep with an army of probably 100,000 warriors. Saul was terrified! Samuel told Saul to wait 7 days and then he would come help him. Saul waited. I think he just went through the motions. I get the impression that he looked at his sundial and counted off the "minutes". Ok, 7 days are up. Where are you Samuel? No Samuel? Ok, then I'll take matters into my own hands. And he did. He knew he needed to hear from God. He also knew that he was not qualified to offer sacrifices, because he was not a priest. Saul knew that God's Word made it very clear that he would be disobedient if he offered the sacrifice. But, he did it anyway.

The results were disasterous for Saul and his family. Want to know the rest of the story? Read 1 Samuel 13.

What can we learn from Saul? It's dangerous just to go through the motions. When we choose do something that we know that we should not do, because we are just going through the motions, why are we surprised when God decides to get our attention?

Is there some area of your life where you are just going through the motions? What causes you to go through the motions? What causes you to lose focus?

- Dean