The Novelty Detox for Lent: Letting Go of Novelty and Being Present in the EverydayNäide

Day 4: Adopting God’s Call to Action

God’s call to action is simple: “Pick up your cross and follow Me.” This feels incredibly confronting to me because I had been making excuses for my constant pursuit of novelty—so much so that it was affecting the stability of my relationship with God.

Novelty is often seen as a positive, and there are redeeming qualities to it. However, if it begins to interfere with the core tenets of our lives, it must be surrendered at the cross.

Letting go of this requires a lifetime of effort and intention—a continual pursuit of laying down anything that takes precedence in our lives. When I notice that my phone, social media, or novel pursuits start to take over, I know, hard as it may be, that I must surrender them.

The Call to Action

Think of five practical ways each week that you can actively adopt God’s call to action.

Here were some of mine:

- Put down my phone and pick up my Bible.

- Let go of overwhelming thoughts and spend a few minutes in morning silence to give thanks.

- Commit to a social media fast once a week.

- Deepen my commitment to my hardest responsibilities: being a wife, managing the Christian Busking Project, and completing personal writing projects.

- Acknowledge God’s long-standing call for me to write a book. My lack of focus has often stemmed from pursuing novelty and excitement—a book is not always thrilling to commit to. I will dedicate one hour a week of deep focus to getting it done.

Call to action:

Write down how you will adopt the call to action: Pick up your cross and follow me.