On a cold, and unusually clear night in the suburbs, Becky and I gazed in the night sky at distant planets and constellations. The app on our phone helped us identify stars and planets with some information about each. Learning only increased our wonder at the heavenly display of God’s glory.

Our children were constantly alive to the wonders of nature’s flora and fauna. Dandelion heads were an endless supply of joy as they spread the seeds with each breath. They were fascinated that the pecans we picked up to eat just dropped from a tree. Laughing in the Rocky Mountains, they delighted how we could sing the marmots out of the rocks. Alive to wonder!

Almost daily, I find something or someone that fills me with joy and wonder. This week I have celebrated two birth announcements; preached funerals for godly people who died in faith; prayed with a woman of joyful, persistent faith in the face of three years of suffering; and talked with people working in dangerous places where it is illegal to be a Christian. I’ve been hugged, visited by friends, and surprised by an unexpected gift. I’m filled with the wonder of God’s goodness.

Why do people try to box God’s desire for relationship with us in religion? With all the rules, hoops, hurdles that no one can keep anyway, it’s a sin to obstruct and bore people with a substitute for best news ever.

Why do so many people live bored, stressed, angry, and disillusioned with life? It’s not the way God intended life to be.

If wonder is lacking in your life and you are bored with religion, then let me encourage you: there is a better way. You can slow down and see and experience the wonders of God. You can see, taste, touch, smell, and hear the whispers of heaven now. I hope you will join me this Sunday to discover a life of wonder.

Peace!