I recently heard someone comment about how praying about a situation can actually be disobedience. In regard to our actions, there are lots of things that God has made clear in the Bible. Praying for guidance as to whether you should love your neighbor is silly - Jesus already stated very clearly what is expected of his followers.

This got me thinking about what decisions fall into this categy of "givens."

Everyone who grew up in a church knows that a Christians is supposed to "read your Bible and pray everyday, pray everyday, pray everyday." These things are givens.

I've begun to realize that there are far more givens than we think there are; far more than we would like. Jesus expects his followers to pray, to fast, to tell others about Him, to help the poor, to have integrity, to speak plainly, to show respect to everyone, to take care of orphans and widows and the oppressed.

To take care of orphans and widows. James 1:27 makes this very clear: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

The more we persue adoption, it really has become something that is a "given" to me - not a gift or a calling or an anointing that we have and others don't - really seems pretty plain and clear that this is expected of followers of Jesus. We're not putting this off, treating it as an option, or only adopting as a last resort - we'll have bio-kids as well. We're adopting because it is part of what it means to follow Jesus.

Part of me wonders what's wrong with our cultural Christianity that we have disregarded this very clear part of our faith.

But I do wonder what I am putting off, treating as an option, or only resorting to after all other options fail. What other "givens" are out there that I don't even realize because I've become so caloused by stubbornly ignoring them and relegating them to the realm of preference?

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