Several years ago a friend forwarded me the following email. I have revised and edited the original message:
“Isn’t it strange how a $20 bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to the church but such a small amount when you go shopping for groceries or clothes?
“Isn’t it strange how two hours seems so long when you’re at worship but so short when you’re watching a good movie or a close ball game?
“Isn’t it strange when you can’t find a word to say in prayer but have no trouble talking on the phone with a close friend for 30 minutes?
“Isn’t it strange that reading one chapter of the Bible is boring and difficult but reading 100 pages of a Western or romance novel is easy?
“Isn’t it strange that most people want front row seats at games and concerts but back row pews on Sundays and Wednesdays?
“Isn’t it strange how sharing the truth about Jesus feels awkward but repeating gossip feels natural?
“Isn’t it strange how we believe everything written in magazines but question the words of the Bible?”
Maybe it isn’t all that strange. Maybe we’re torn between two opposing spheres of existence: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:5-9).