D.T.R. - Every Day

A group of us guys are reading a book by Kyle Idleman called "not a fan".  It hits some areas of our lives (every area actually) that we need to address in our relationship to and with Jesus. 

Recently, we hit a chapter that challenged us to have the D.T.R. talk with ourselves about our relationship with Christ.
D.T.R. - Defining the Relationship:  setting the boundaries, setting the vision, addressing where this thing is going.  It's what the younger generation does when their friendships or the person to whom they are "talking" needs to know if this is going anywhere...
They have the D.T.R. talk.  
When a bunch of guys are sitting around drinking coffee and talking about what it means to have the talk with Jesus, we realize that this is a little weird but it also brought up a number of good points.
Every day we can redefine our relationship with Jesus.  In fact, every day we DO redefine our relationship with Jesus.  Every day we wake up and find hundreds of things  - good things - that we can easily place at the center of our existence instead of our Savior.  Truth be told - every day I easily find ways to place other things in front of my love relationship with Christ.  And yet - every day, He loves me and has only my best in mind for His glory.  How do I keep putting other things in front of Christ?

• I let my schedule derail my relationship with Christ.
• I let my family schedule do it, also.
• I let my desire for material things jump in front.
• I let my worry about the uncontrollable things take center stage.
• I let my sin nature creep onto the throne.
• I let my insecurities overtake my prayer life.
• I let my victories plant seeds of pride in my heart.
• I let my desire to make others happy overtake my sense of mission in making Christ happy first.

Some of these things are bad things and some are good things when placed in the right order with Christ at the center.  What do I know?
I know that, for me, and probably for you, it is critical that I roll out of bed in the morning and hit my knees and commit my day to Him.  Every day I must Define the Relationship, renew the commitment and set patterns and habits in place for this relationship to continue to grow.
What will you do?  It does get easier - as I look back at where I have been and where I am today - I see hope!  But I also see where I want to be - I have that vision for the future of what my life should look like with Jesus, so I press on and keep taking the little steps each day to make the relationship all that it should be - I am not a fan.  I am a follower of Jesus Christ.