normal

Today I am thankful for "normal religion."  I grew up on heavy religion.  It was certainly... well, heavy.  Manipulation, guilt, heavy language, rigid thinking, my way or the highway.  Watch out or you are going to hell.  No one that I grew up with ever showed the joy of the Lord.  They were all too worried, they were too scared, because their lives were heavy.

Thank God that somewhere along the way, we actually learned that Jesus loves us.  Faith does not have to be heavy.  True spirituality is never heavy.  God does not need guilt or manipulation to reach people. 

Children loved Jesus.  They flocked to him.  Children don't flock to heavy, guilt laden people.  Jesus was normal, approachable, and kind.  He hopes that his followers will be as well.  Joy to the world!  We can believe in Jesus and not be heavy.  The world needs normal Christians, just regular folks that go about sharing God's love.

I am thankful that we can simply live a life of love and joy.  And that is enough.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.