Get your head in the game

If someone were to tell you to 'roll up your sleeves', what would that indicate you were about to do? If they told you to 'get your head in the game' at about the same time, do you think that might just challenge you a bit to 'refocus' - pay attention, be alert, stop ignoring stuff around you? If those words came from God, would they carry any greater meaning than if I said them to you? They should! God isn't about to let us sit around being 'lazy Christians'. He wants us alert, active, and attentive to his direction.

So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” (I Peter 1:13)

The alert is given - what we do with it is our choice. We can choose to ignore it, or half-heartedly respond in the affirmative. We can choose to put ourselves squarely in the middle of something we have been avoiding out of fear or distrust. We can and should choose to lay aside what we have been 'barely doing', taking up the actions Christ directs for us to take, and then trusting him with the next steps. Rolling up our sleeves means we are getting ready for hard work. This Christian walk isn't for the weak! It will require us to lay down our differences, putting others first, and working together in unity like never before. That is likely where the rub occurs - working in unity with each other. In this day and age, it is so easy to find a reason to 'not' do something. We disagree with political parties - so we resist what seems practical and reasonable. We find the beliefs of those we used to align with no longer 'fit' our beliefs, so we don't align with them any longer. We don't think the rules apply to us, so we deviate. Truth be told, Christ's rule in our lives doesn't operate at 'full capacity' when we are out of unity with each other. The Body of Christ is meant to be unified - not divided.

It is hard to be alert and attentive to the things our society might pander as 'good' or 'valuable', but is really lacking in true goodness or value in the end. Those 'old grooves of evil' have formed ruts throughout all of time and it is easy to get caught up in the ruts of evil. Perhaps that is why God tells us to get our head in the game - to really pay close attention to more than what is being said, but to also see the attitude and character behind the suggested actions or inaction. What do ruts in a road do? They pull us into paths we don't want to take. As I walk along the canal, there are ruts from work trucks that have been there. Those ruts fill with water as the rains come, making the path quite precarious. The ruts mean I take a different course - to avoid the mud, dirty water, and ankle-twisting journey! Avoid the ruts - get your head in the game. Roll up your sleeves - be ready to get to work, not alone, but in unity with those who are on this discipleship journey right beside you! Just sayin!

More than just awake

At nearly 101, mom sometimes has moments when she gets a little concerned about the 'other people' in the house. In actuality, there are no others around at that time, but somehow she thinks others should be here and she wants to know where they are sleeping or why they aren't eating with us. It is understandable since she has my sister here some of the week to be with her while I am at work. I have to remain alert to these changes in mom because if not addressed calmly and quickly, she will become distressed and worried about 'the others'. She will get down on herself for 'being daft' and then she will be worried he mind is going. Usually a soft answer, reassuring her everyone made it home safely and will be safe and sound in their own beds tonight is enough to settle her spirit, but I must remain alert to these sudden changes. Alertness is the ability to be keenly aware of your circumstances - so in tune with what is going on around you that nothing misses your focus. Rarely, if ever, do we enter into this realm of "alertness" - we almost always miss something despite our efforts to do otherwise! In fact, we most often think of alertness as being awake! God expects more, though. He expects us to be aware, not just alert!

God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. (Romans 15:4 MSG)

Paul is describing a condition of heart and mind which is fully aware and attentive to the move of God. In the stillness of the moment, there is a keen awareness of his voice. In the hubbub of a busy day, there is the attentiveness to his Spirit's nudges. Two "tools" are utilized to give us this ability to be both aware and attentive - the steadiness of God's calling and the totally personal counsel of the Word. The first describes the continually steadying effect of his voice in our lives. There is nothing more uplifting than the sweet sound of his whispers of delight he takes watching over our lives. The second describes the Word of God as our personal place of counsel. In the Word, we find encouragement for living, warnings against unwise choices, and examples of both. His calling is both constant and steady. His Word is both warming to our spirits and personal in its touch. Both are to be the hallmarks of God's action in our lives. They are to "characterize" us. They come to represent God's activity within us, moving us to behave in ways which are not usually customary for us. Both are intended to keep us alert for what God will do next.

Most of us would love to know what the future holds. We can! If we come to embrace his steady, constant calling (listen well to his voice), and embrace his warm, personal counsel in Scripture (do more with the Word than just read it). We need to see and respond to the leading of a dependably steady God - a warmly personal God. Most of us lack this kind of dependability in our lives, though. We struggle to find spiritual footing most of the time. God gives us this kind of "footing" through the counsel of his Word and the direction of his still small voice. God's desire is to get "personal" with us. We often resist this kind of "closeness" in relationship with him because we might be afraid of what he will find out about us! Don't we realize he already knows it all anyway? There is nothing hidden from him - even what we do in secret is an open book to him.

When someone whispers we have to be close enough to them to hear the stillness of their voice. If we never let ourselves get close enough to God to actually hear the steadying effect of his call in our lives, how will we ever develop the alertness and attentiveness he desires? We can have bookshelves filled with all kinds of books written to help us through life's darkest challenges. If we never open the cover of the most important one (The Bible), how will we ever discern the wisdom contained in the many other books on the shelves? Isn't it time to get personal with God? Don't fear his closeness - embrace it! It is a closeness like no other you've experienced. You can trust him with anything - even your short-comings! So, be alert, but also become very aware - he is here right now. Just sayin!

Old history be gone!

I don't think there is anything more damaging to our overall sense of well-being than for us to continually rehearse the 'bad stuff' in life. The 'stuff' may have happened TO us, or we may have been the ones to have DONE it. Regardless, to continually go over and over all that "old history" is really not all that productive and it might actually be the cause of why we aren't moving forward right now! There is something much more powerful in 'being present' in the moment - to be focused on what it is we can take control of within ourselves, then turning the rest over to God to let him have the reins in our lives. 

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands." (Isaiah 43:18 MSG)

To forget about what's happened one must be willing to let go of both 'hurts' done to us and those things that aren't doing us any good to hold onto, like all those hang-ups we continually make excuses to ourselves and others about instead of dealing with them. I know this is easier said than done, for I also have struggled with holding onto hang-ups God has asked me to put down. It may have been my stubbornness or simply my inability to trust things will ever 'get better' if I did put them down. To let go I had to yield where I had been unyielding, and go 'all in' where I had been lacking in trust. It isn't that I didn't know what to do - it is that I had to be willing to live in the present, allowing God to change my present, instead of me holding onto my past!

"Old history" - we all have it. We all deal with it differently. We all have those moments when we resort back to some old way of thinking - falling back on what happened instead of focusing on what is happening now. We miss what is happening now if we do! We close our eyes to God's presence in our lives - we only see the impossibilities - but where he is, there are infinite possibilities. Desert places aren't easily traversed, are they? Why? There are obstacles in the way. The dry places we experience there make the journey even harder. Isn't it good to know that God is in the business of clearing the way and providing for us to be refreshed along the way?

Be alert and be present. Actions are described there, my friends. Most of the problems we have with our 'old history' is that we have been unable to take some action we have been asked to take at some point along the way. We were supposed to seek forgiveness from one we wronged, but we didn't. We were asked to lay something down, but we stubbornly held on. We were called to go above and beyond, but we simply stood still and let life happen around us. Be alert - pay attention, get focused, and be prepared for action. Be present - take notice, and be real. Being present means we are willing to be 'genuine' about ourselves - admitting where we have failed, owning our next steps, and then taking the action required.

The more we focus on the 'old history' portion of our lives, the more we get mired down by that history. The moment we come into the present, we open ourselves to being transparent, real, and truthful with ourselves, God, and others. This is the starting place for moving out of the 'old history' portion of our lives and into the 'new places' God is about to bring us into by his grace. Just sayin!