Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 65. I Bookmarked God for Decades (2024, living in His story)

Hello human.

I want the best possible spiritual 2024 for you. And for those you love, those you are concerned about, those you are trying to help, support, connect to, communicate with…

To want this for you, I have I to start with my own life. As you may know if you have jumped on a few BUOYS with us, I grew up in a Christian environment. God was a familiar presence, like a grandpa to me. Church had all the familiar places, chairs, stairs, pews, songs, faces. God wasn’t really a decision. He was just part of my life as a child.

When I got to high school, things changed, and He wasn’t part of the ins and outs of my teenage days. He was kind of like a sticky note at the back of my brain, that I would mentally pass by and reflect on. Briefly reflect that of course I love God, of course He sent His Son, of course He died for me, of course I will live a grateful life for Him.  But I was always traveling toward something else:  school, dance, theater, friends, and aspirations about what was ahead.

It wasn’t until the third year of college that I came face to face with Him. It was only then that He became a decision. I spent several years with Him as No. 1. That He was the context for, the spiritual presence that embraced everything I did. But long story shorter, during my career, I created His presence in my image, my choices, my efforts to serve others, using amazing career opportunities He gave me not so much for His glory, but for my fulfillment. By this I mean that I did not seek His daily presence, even though I attributed the work I was doing to His direction. It wasn’t a vibrant, living thing, it was more like I was able to do all that good because He got me the job… but the work, using my skills was really up to me.

And during those decades I did a lot of work, raising money, helping others, going the extra mile, long days, a commitment to leadership… from coast to coast, in amazing inner city cultures. And I always did this.

I Bookmarked God.

I bookmarked God. It was my personalized assurance that He was important, and it did short-term wonders for sending my guilt into hibernation. By bookmarking, I was acknowledging His importance, and my commitment to return to Him. Just give me a little more time on my own… out there, Lord.

Traditionally, a bookmark is a narrow piece of card or leather that you put between the pages of a book so that you can find a particular page easily. Digitally, a bookmark is the address of an internet site that you put into a list on your computer so that you can return to it easily. Now there are fancy apps for this process.

Think about when you bookmark something digitally—an article, a resource, a website, a recipe, a book review, a quote, a scripture—put it on your bookmark list so you can return to it later. That there is some redeeming quality in bookmarking something as important, that you recognize it merits a deeper look, a focused perspective, a dedicated return, a promise of commitment. It’s a guilt buster.

I bookmarked God, thinking someday I will be able to go all in for my Heavenly Father.

When I have more time.

When my schedule is more flexible.

When my days are mine to rule.

When I can write to search and discover a deeper relationship with Him.

When church, when prayer, when reading His word is somehow… more relevant.

And I bookmarked the Bible.

For when I have time to really dig in and get serious about reading it through a scholarly lens.

But this whole idea of bookmarking, within a spiritual context, runs upriver to the footsteps of Jesus.

Follow me. Now.

Matthew 9:9

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

Matthew 8:21-22

Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

There is no preparation for following Jesus. Just believe, get up and follow Him in your life.

And if you are wanting to do that but need to bookmark it for a more convenient time, for a more feasible time, for a more conducive time, and quite possibility, a more acceptable time, hear His words: “allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

The lures of the world are all the things you do with no spiritual connection to the Vine, the things of this world are all the priorities you do aside from His presence. On the perimeters of His presence. If you are not walking on the road beside Him, He considers this being spiritually dead and you will be about the business of the world that has no power or place in His kingdom. Because He lives, and through Him, we live.

Jesus gave every disciple the same command: “Follow me.”

How Often do You Return to a Digital Bookmark?

How often do you return to a digital bookmark? Something you have saved, proclaimed “important” – and returned to learn more, praise, discover. Personally, I do not return, more than I do. Most of the time it is just giving myself permission to move on with a superficial nod to that source.

What are you saving for a better day in how you grow toward God spiritually?

Jesus says, get up and follow Him.

What daily behavior are you saving for a different day to bring you closer to Jesus?

Jesus says: Follow Him, right now. Do that thing, now.

Returning to the God bookmark is not that easy, my human. It’s an all-in proposition.

It does so many things… for one, it undoes your life in a way that makes you question the past. That’s another episode, but the beauty of it is that you begin to see what a divine decision to follow God actually is. My commitment to share my witness BUOY every week is no joke, my human. God is changing me.

I recently came to a new spiritual place with my God.

When His story became more important than my story.

2024. His story through me.

That’s BUOY episode 66. The power of God’s story. And how I live within it. See you on the other side of 2023.