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Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:10-12 NIV)

Football (not soccer) is a popular but violent sport. We were reminded of that during a Monday night football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. In the first quarter, a twenty-four-year-old player on the Bills collapsed after making a tackle. He had a cardiac arrest, most likely due to a well-timed blunt trauma to the heart. Fortunately, his heartbeat was restored on the field (as reported using CPR and AED). The use of an AED, automated external defibrillator, in short, is to reset the heart’s normal electrical current/rhythm.

How often does a well-timed challenge or obstacle (or even complacency) knock us out of sync in our walk with God, and we need a shock or jolt to put our heart back into the rhythm? Prayer and fasting could be that jolt for you - a time when you press into God, really seek Him, reset your priorities, your life. Ask God those tough questions, listen to what He has to say, and then obey!

Dr. David Cross (director of the Institute of Child Development at TCU) refers to attachment as a “dance.” Are we attached to God? Are we in rhythm with God? Are we in step? Are we letting God lead? Being connected to God gives us life. 1 John 5:12b Whoever has the Son has life… John 10:10b Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Today ask yourself: How does my dance with God look like now, and how can I make it better?

J&G