Welcome Watcher!

There are days when I wonder why I say the things I say!  Days when the words just seem to "pop out" without any forethought!  I guess we all have those days, huh?  There are still other days when I seem to drift into some kind of "daydreaming" mode and just drift along.  When I look at the end of the day's work, I wonder why I just did not accomplish much.  At other times, I am so productive and accomplish much.  Most would consider this kind of "up and down" behavior as a little bit of inconsistency - the actions don't consistently match the words or the intentions.  True that!  If you have figured out a way to 100% of the time walk in consistency....patent it!  You will be rich!


Today's passage deals with a prayer of David in which he shows us the importance of having a guard over our lips and a guide for our activity.

Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. 
   Don't let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. 

(Psalm 141:3-4 The Message)

David reminds us of the importance of having a "guard" posted at our mouths.  Hmmm...this certainly seems like a good idea, huh?  Setting a "watch" over the door of our lips might actually help us "filter" some of what we say!  Look it up - the idea is one of keeping under so close of a watch nothing escapes which should have "stayed in"!  It goes back to the teaching of a wise counselor in my life:  "Think all you say, but don't say all you think!"

Do you have control of your dreams?  You might if we were speaking of daydreams here.  When we thoughtlessly drift into the daydreaming mode, we may not even realize we are there.  Case in point - yesterday morning on the way to work.  I was over 6 miles into my commute before I realized I was deep into a "daydreaming" mode!  I had passed 6 major stop lights (all green!), was entering the freeway, and suddenly got called back to earth!

Now, my daydreams were about improvements around the house which I'd like to make - some new things to add to the "curb appeal" of my home.  These are definitely not the wrong kind of "dreams" to have.  Yet, my attentiveness to what I was engaged in (driving to work) was simply not there!  Whenever "dreams" take over, we have a tendency to drift from attentiveness into passive inattention.  The danger comes in the "passivity".  

David goes so far to remind us of our failure to evaluate the company we keep.  He refers to it as "thoughtlessly falling" into bad company.  Have you ever been dreaming in your sleep, then in a flash, you awake with a start?  You felt like you had just fallen - like you'd stepped off a cliff and suddenly you are awake, heart pounding, breathing rapidly!  The whole event of the dream seems real for a moment, yet you had no control over how you got to where you are right at the moment you awaken!

We choose the company we keep.  We also choose the company we leave behind.  It is a matter of choice - either active or passive.  You may struggle with this concept a little wondering how you can passively make a choice.  It is true - the opposite of active choice is one of passively having a choice made for you!  David reminds us we need a guard over our choices - one who will alert us before we make the wrong ones and will shock us back to our senses before we passively drift into ones we may regret later!

So, Holy Spirit come!  Guard our lips - close the door tight when nothing good is about to come out!  Watch our words!  Pull us back to earth when we are carried away in inattentive passivity. Guide our choices!  We welcome your watchfulness over our lives!