Today was my first time at church in two-and-a-half months because I've been working at a camp in Indiana where Sunday was our busiest work day and really we worked almost everyday, so we couldn't go to church. But it's a Christian camp, so there were worship nights and guest speakers sometimes, and church was in our hearts or whatever, but still, I was super glad to get to go to church today because I LOVE CHURCH.
And I really like this church Calvary West, which is a little offshoot of the big Calvary Church in Naperville, but it's in Sugar Grove where my mom and stepdad live, and I went there for six months while I was temping at Threadless (between camp seasons), so it felt really good to be back. Plus my parents came with me, which was really fun. They normally go to a different church, so it was nice for them to see where I've been going and meet people and things.
But anyways. This was also my last time at Calvary West because I'm leaving THIS Friday to go to LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. (That was supposed to be "L.A.," but I was shouting it extendedly, because I'm so EXCITEDDDDDDDDDDDDD.)
But anyways. Here's the main thing that I learned today:
Pastor Russ talked about Samson (Judges 13) and how he was separated unto God as a Nazirite, which meant that he never cut his hair, didn't drink wine or touch grapes, and didn't touch or go near anything dead (Numbers 6). So there were all these rules, but it wasn't about the rules, it was about his devotion to God, which was symbolized by his taking strict precaution to do these things.
"Devotion to God protects your destiny." --> That was my favorite quote from Pastor Russ today, because so often we spend so much time trying to figure out our destinies and how to get to them, when really if we would just be devoted to God (i.e. reading the Bible / praying / etc.), our daily decisions would be infused with wisdom from God's Word. We'd be building "Godly reflexes," P. Russ says, and those actions and responses that have God at the center will lead us exactly to where we are supposed to be, praise Jesus.
