I love reading the works of Oswald Chambers – so much wisdom and he doesn’t mince words, but gets right to the point. In ‘Utmost For His Highest,’ Chambers writes about our relationship with Jesus and how it’s easy to get so absorbed in our service to Him, that we fail to actually face Him. Recognizing His ‘surprise visits’ (as Chambers calls them) is not brought about by service to Him, but by intense spiritual reality, looking for Him in even the smallest details of life. “If we are going to be ready for Jesus, we have to stop being religious.” In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of lofty lifestyle – we must be spiritually real. The only way to be effective for God is to be real. What am I like when no one is looking? Do my attitudes match my actions? What do I say differently depending on the crowd I am hanging out with? We will never be close to Jesus if we are just living a lifestyle, we have to be spiritually real. No one wants to follow a fake leader – people are looking for the real thing!