The Plumbline

Form your purpose by asking for counsel, then carry it out using all the help you can get. (Proverbs 20:18) Most of us don't get up in the morning and set out aimlessly on our day. Even that cup of coffee you are drinking is made with purpose - you wanted it! Purpose can also be described as determination - being directed toward a certain point and then doggedly making every effort to get to that point. Our "purpose" is to be found in Christ - his life within us is to give meaning to our steps and a sense of determination to our actions. Some of us don't feel like we understand our purpose in life - having been shot down a few times when we tried to step out to do something or having believed for way too long that our actions don't matter or make a difference. We can come to Christ with our feelings of being "aimless" and "purposeless" - asking him to bring clarity, give us direction, and to bolster us for the journey ahead. We come to a p...

Be good to your servant, that I may live and obey your word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. I am only a foreigner in the land. Don’t hide your commands from me! (Psalm 119:17-19) Have you ever heard the saying, "You have not because you ask not"? In reality, many of us spend very little time asking God to open his word to us. We go right to it, open it up, then start reading. When nothing seems to 'pop off the pages' at us, we get a little concerned. We ought to! We neglected to ask God to open the truths hidden deep within those words. Sometimes they are quite obvious, but at others, we need help understanding how they apply to our lives right now. When the psalmist (King David) said he was a 'foreigner in the land', he wasn't applying that term to a real strip of land. He was saying he was a foreigner when it came to understanding God's word. There are lots of times we probably feel like 'foreigners' in God...