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I was inspired today by a song that Tenth Avenue North sings called By Your Side. It is written from God's perspective. The singer is the voice of God and asks, "Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?" It reminded me of the constant struggle I have to look for the next best thing when God is still here and has not changed. The commercialism that we complain has taken over so many of our beloved Christian celebrations (Christmas, Easter) has also infiltrated our spiritual lives. Go to a Christian bookstore (or any bookstore, virtual or bricks and mortar) and you will be overwhelmed by the amount of self help books that are available. A large portion of them are residing on the Christian aisle or section. It causes me to pause. Why are we still searching when God has given us the grace we seek? How many different ways can we hear the message? I know that people learn through different methods but it seems that we as Christians are forgetting the central message about our God. He has told us that we need to accept Him as our savior, love Him, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus even provided us with more detailed information when he preached the sermon on the mount. Yet we continue to search for a better way. There is no better way. As the singer says in By Your Side, "...please don't fight, these hands are holding you." Why is it in our nature to forget that God is always with us? Now I am not attacking Christian writers for putting out new books. I am guilty of perpetuating the industry by buying many of the books. I just think that we may be over saturating the market when maybe all we need to do is allow God to "lift up your face" and not "turn away." I encourage you to simplify your life. If you have found a book that is allowing you to deepen your spiritual growth, along with the Bible, then you should stick with that one. If the book is truly inspired by God, then it will speak to you just as the Bible does and it will present the message you need to hear at this point in your life. God is using other folks to help you but don't forget to talk to God yourself. Conversation with God on a daily basis is a good habit to form.

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