Misguided and Misplaced

We have seen that God All-Powerful really is all powerful! But he is just and never treats anyone unfairly. That is why people fear and respect him. He shows no respect for those who think they are wise. (Job 37:23-24)

We serve the one who makes heavens heavy with rain and snow; winds that gentle the leaves and topple them at times; oceans that flow in and out with rising and ebbing tides; and the one who takes notice of our every action or inaction with his watchful eye. God's justice is sometimes not understood - as much as we try to understand his holiness requires the need to judge sin, it is hard for us to wrap our heads around a merciful and loving God bringing 'justice' in a sinful world. I think we have come to think of justice as everyone being treated equally rather than that a morally righteous God cannot tolerate sin and must expose it for what it is. Sin is sin - give it all kinds of other names, but it is still sin. All sin must be judged by a holy, righteous, and upright God. The good news is that the penalty for sin need not be 'meted out' to us any longer because we have a Savior who has already paid the price for ALL our sins.

God never treats anyone unfairly. He might hold us accountable for our actions, and even our inaction, but he does so in a 'fair' and 'equitable' manner. No sin is worse than another - all sin is a violation of his holy standards. We might want to call a lie a 'little white lie', but all untruth is simply untruth - even when we put a bow on a pig it is still a pig! God's justice does something other forms of 'human justice' doesn't - it calls us to repentance. His justice might bring conviction of our sin, allowing certain 'calamitous things' to occur that bring us face-to-face with our sin and his holiness, but it never leaves us without a means by which to leave that sin behind and move into his grace. Some may think they can escape his judgment, but we are unable to find a place 'secure enough' for our sin to never be exposed and looked upon as sin through his holy eyes.

The All-Powerful God is really all-powerful. His main reason for exposing sinfulness is to give us an opportunity to repent (turn from it) and find his path of right-living. You may have heard the scripture alluded to that it is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. The passage doesn't deal with man having wealth - it deals with what wealth does to a man's heart. The main point is that 'things' and 'activities' can take up all our attention and demand our unyielding affection. When they do, we find ourselves making those things the 'all-powerful god' in our lives. God's plan is for us to have no other 'gods' but him - if we do, we can count on his judgment in order to help us realize our misplaced affections and misdirected attentions. Just sayin!

Are you getting the most out of it?

I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. (Galatians 5:4-6)

I bet no one will be surprised to know that I spent a great deal of time trying to be holy by completing various religious 'plans' and 'projects'. I'd fast for a day, not really knowing why I was doing it, but someone told me it would 'make me closer to God'. I'd read a certain number of chapters in the Bible every day, not really getting much out of it, all because someone told me I needed to make a 'plan' for reading through the Bible every year. I'd go to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night - not because I always felt like it, but because it was 'expected'. How many of us have been in the same boat - going about 'doing the plan', but not really getting much out of it?

Truth be told, as I have grown a bit wiser, I find myself happy to simply 'ingest' a few verses every day, thinking upon them, seeing what God wants to tell me about how to make wise decisions, find peace, or get my life in order somehow. I attend church, listen online, or just celebrate God out in nature while out of town, not out of obligation, but because I enjoy being taught as much as I enjoy teaching others. What made the difference? I guess it was listening to God's 'small voice' deep inside asking why I did these things - what purpose were they serving in my life. When I really stopped to consider the 'exercises' in faith, I realized they were simply 'religious exercises' that weren't really accomplishing the intended purpose!

Once I asked God to help me be less 'religious' and 'pious', do you know what happened? I fell in love with him! I enjoyed my time that I regularly set aside for the two of us. I found he spoke to me very clearly and that I actually listened to what he told me. It wasn't a magic formula that brought me closer to God - it was a yielded and obedient heart. Did the change happen overnight? Nope, but it happened! Did it change the way I acted? Yes, now the actions are genuine and without second thought. They are purposeful and life-giving. Do I still find myself in kind of 'mulligrub' spiritual moments where it doesn't seem like I am getting much from the time I am spending with him? Yup, but they are usually because I need a little attitude adjustment, not that I need to engage in anymore 'spiritual rituals'. 

How about you? Have you been going through the motions, but not really connecting with him? Have you settled into a place of 'activity', but not really 'pursuit'? Is your heart in it? If not, maybe it is time to ask yourself the 'w' questions. Why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for? What is the purpose behind this action? When I 'perform' this activity, what is the outcome? Answering those tough questions honestly could just give each of us a little bit of insight into how committed our heart is to getting the most from our relationship with him. Just sayin!

What? Who? Where?

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. (Romans 8:35, 37)

There are lots of things and people working overtime to separate us from the pursuit of our first love - Christ. What? You say he isn't your 'first love'? Well, if he isn't, he needs to be! We will never experience any love so loyal, any grace so deep, or any peace so settling as what we enjoy in putting him first in our lives. Could it be we are so easily overcome or overwhelmed by life's hard things because we haven't given him 'first place' in our lives? 

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (v. 38-39) 

Our fears for today and our worries about tomorrow go a long way in distracting us from putting Christ first in our lives, don't they? We get so hyper-focused on those things that we actually stop taking time for our most important relationship. Nothing should separate us from his love - yet our inattention to the relationship might just cause us to drift apart a bit more than we'd actually like to admit. Does that mean we are 'separated from Christ'? No, it means we have allowed other things to become distractions!

Learning to recognize and control life's distractions is the first order of business, but we don't even have to do that alone! If we put Christ back in the right place in our lives, asking him to help us both recognize AND control those distractions, he will. We get pulled away from Christ at center because we don't recognize other relationships or things we are accumulating as distractions. When we attempt to 'control' the distractions all on our own, we probably don't do a very good job for more than a little while. We get pulled away again and then we wonder where that 'closeness' with Jesus went.

One thing I have learned is to regularly examine my choices. What am I choosing to spend my time on FIRST? Who am I choosing to spend my time with FIRST? Where is my attention focused most of the time? When I begin to answer anything other than Jesus to the first two questions, it is likely that the answer to the third one will reveal Jesus really isn't with me in whatever it is I am focusing so much time and attention on. Just sayin!

Squander less....embrace more

What difference does a day make? To some, a day is an eternity because they are never really confident they will see another. To others, a day seems like an eternity because they are waiting with a degree of impatience for something big to happen they have been dreaming about for quite some time. To God, a day is something like a fraction of a second to us - hard for us to imagine, beyond our comprehending. Every moment matters. Today's seconds may slip away from us unnoticed if we are not careful, but with God, not one of those miliseconds are ever missed.

“So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.” Proverbs 8:32-36

Mark a life of discipline and live wisely. This says it all - make right choices, stay focused on the right stuff, and be attentive to the right things. There is much to be said about focus, but attention is what I'd like us to consider for just a moment or two. You see, attention is waning at best. We might say we have dedicated our attention to some pursuit or passion, but even the most dedicated and committed of individuals will waver in their commitment to the object of their attention.

Why do we want to be aware of where our attention is 'weak' or 'wandering'? It is because we will end up squandering the moments. Moments that will all add up in the end as more than we ever imagined. Don't believe me? Your moments right now are directed toward reading this blog, but in just a few more moments, where will your attention be directed? I just caused you to focus your attention on something else just a little bit further down the road, didn't I? See how easily our attention is distracted, or redirected? No wonder God reminds us not to squander our moments with him. 

When we want to make the most of our days, we start them well. In other words, we start them with our attention directed toward God, what he wants to do in and through us today, and what he wants us to understand or see. The truth of the matter -  it is much easier to end well when we begin well! Our focus is not going to remain consistent throughout the day, but we can begin it well and allow those moments of redirection to occur as God would call upon us to refocus throughout the day. In the end, we will squander less and be rewarded with even more than we counted on receiving! Just sayin!

Our greatest attention - Our greatest affection

Bless our God, O peoples! Give him a thunderous welcome! Didn't he set us on the road to life? Didn't he keep us out of the ditch? He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires, brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very limit, road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; finally he brought us to this well-watered place. (Psalm 66:8-12)

Maybe we think "blessing God" means giving a little of our hard earned income in the collection plate on Sunday, or perhaps singing a sweetly sung hymn. To bless means to exalt, magnify, and glorify the one we consider worthy of such a position and honor. It means we worship and adore the object of our affection and attention. What we miss most of the time is that the one we worship and adore is supposed to be the object of both our affection AND our attention. The one who receives our greatest attention usually holds our greatest affection, and because of this we find opportunities to proclaim the greatness of the one who holds such a position in our hearts, minds, and affections.

Why does our psalmist announce, "Bless our God! Give him a thunderous welcome!"? The truth is that  God puts us on the road to life - he deserves this kind of affection. Prior to the point of his intervention in our lives we were on any other imaginable road we could name here - but not the road to life. I travel with a companion who enjoys the journey with me. She acts as the navigator when we go on road adventures. We have GPS, but I trust her to "navigate" us to the point we need to reach so that we end up enjoying both the journey and the destination. I know she will never purposefully steer me wrong. God is an even more faithful companion than anyone I could travel with in the natural sense. He is concerned with the road I travel, because the road I travel determines the destination I enjoy! He purposefully directs my journey because he has purposed for me to enjoy both the journey and the end results!

Good news - God keeps us out of the ditches. There was one very cold, blustery and snowy day in Anchorage when I experienced this in a literal sense. I was about 8 months pregnant, driving a little Toyota Corolla station wagon. As I ventured from Fort Richardson to Elmendorf Air Force Base to go for my weekly check-up at the clinic I caught a pretty slick section of black ice. It would not have been bad if the visibility had been good, and the ice a smaller spot. As I began to do "donuts" on the curve of that rather remote roadway, I remember seeing more and more of the safety of the roadway surface slipping away from me. It was as I skidded to a stop just inches from the drop off into a huge unplowed ditch that I took my first breath! He had literally kept me from the ditch! Now, in a spiritual sense, think of the "ditches" we have avoided because of his keeping power - spinning out of control, in stuff that seems a little too much for us to deal with. I have avoided some pretty significant life-ditches - how about you?

The truth cannot escape us here - it is God who trains us. We are given several examples of how God trains his children. The refiner's fire might not seem like a 'training ground', but it is. The passage of silver through the fire purifies it, does it not? In the refining fire, there is a chemical change to the raw material put into the fire. We go through some pretty "fiery" places which serve to bring out the strength of character he desires to see produced. There is also the 'training ground' of going through the "hardscrabble" places. In the most literal sense, this is any "place" in our lives that is really demanding and does not appear to provide much reward from the efforts put into "working" this place. The "yield" appears to be meagerly compared to the "work" put into it. God's end in taking us through these places is to prove our faithfulness, and to reveal his sustaining power. The "road-test" pushes an auto to its limits to see what it has the capability of doing under pressure. Most of us can associate with this one! We have felt our backs against the wall, pushed to our limits, seemingly without capacity for anymore. Then, God comes through! If these tests are not enough, we have the illustration of going to hell and back. I don't think this means a literal "going to hell", but I think it is the place of torment or misery in our lives that causes us to seek deliverance. God's intent is never to leave us in any place of misery - never to see us tormented - but when we find ourselves there, he uses it to bring out more of his glory in our lives.

Where does God brings us in the end - to the well-watered place. We could interpret this as a place that has sufficient water to yield the most refreshing growth. You might see it as a place watered from a well running deep. Have you ever had well-water? I have and it tastes different from our city water - free of the chemical taste and smell. It is refreshing and pure. It refreshes and revives. God never takes us "into" without the intention of taking us "out" of the places he uses for our growth and learning. The final verse of this psalm says it better than I can: Blessed be God: he didn't turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love. (vs. 20) No deaf ear, no blind eye, no unnoticed move. He stays with us - never abandoning us. He never missed a beat. Most importantly, his love is loyal to the core. He is there when others wander off and lose interest in our well-being. He is faithful and true. Doesn't this give us cause to "bless God"? Just askin!

Give credit where it is due

Harry S. Truman reminds us, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." I wonder how many of us go through our lives just trying to get credit for whatever good we manage to accomplish and totally discount the very significant struggle we have with that stuff in our lives that often might just border on being a little bit 'not so good'? Most of the time, the desert region around where I live is kind of arid, not very 'colorful', and kind of scraggly. Yet, whenever we have a particularly wet winter and early springtime showers, something amazing happens to the desert floor. Not only do the cacti come into full bloom, but there is a plethora of wildflowers that spring forth. I had never really considered the fact that most of the wildflowers in the world go completely unnoticed by human eye. They spring forth from the hard soil of the earth, struggle against the elements, bloom in all their majesty, and no one ever sets an eye on them, or gives them 'credit' for all the hard work they have had to go through to actually bloom for such a short time! The 'credit' doesn't matter to them - their main 'job' in life is to just bloom!

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (Matthew 6:30-33)

What are the differences between the wildflowers and the ones planted in my garden? Well, first of all, it is who is doing the planting and caring for them! One is completely God's handiwork - the other is a local nursery worker, followed by me, then their fate is left to the sprinkler system and the elements! No wonder God's wildflowers do so much better than mine and look so majestic! That is not the only difference between the two types of 'growth', though. There is also the fact that one is deliberately planted to bring God joy - the other is planted to bring only me joy! That wildflower, bending with the gentle breezes, in the meadow, or tucked gently into a crag on the side of a rocky cliff or desert floor, has been placed exactly where they are by the hand of our Creator God. They enjoy their placement and beauty because it has been designed by God. I doubt if that wildflower on the side of the cliff or desert floor says to itself, "I wish I was in the meadow" and then bemoans the "fate" of being on the majestic cliff or otherwise pretty 'bland' desert floor! Yet, how many times do we "bloom" where we have been planted only to complain about our "planting"? The 'credit' of where we are planted and who had done the planting gets in the way for us many times.

The fact is that God plants us where we will bloom best! In his perfect wisdom, he plants us - some in meadows, others in seeming "craggy places" of life. Yet...in our perfect placement we have the true honor of bringing God joy and glory. It is when we understand that we are not placed to bring ourselves joy or glory that we truly begin to enjoy where we are "planted". It is there that we can begin to be "carefree" - allowing God to soak up the beauty of our lives as he designed it! You may not be noticed by the masses, but God has his eyes constantly directed toward you. You never escape his watchfulness. He sees your struggle to get your "head above the hard soil" of life. He knows how you will "fit in" with the "environment" where you have been planted. He encourages your growth with "gentle storms" and "forming winds". He opens you to the fullness of beauty with the warmth of his radiance, much as the sun does for the wildflower in the field. He does get a little concerned when all we focus on is that we didn't 'get the credit' for any of the work, though! It is in being "carefree" that we truly become aware of how much we are "cared for" and watched over. In blooming exactly where we have been planted, we bring much joy to the one who has planted us exactly where we are! In worrying less about the 'credit' and more about the one who watches over our lives with such care, we actually begin to enjoy life much more! Just sayin!

Use it or lose it

When I used to play team sports, I used to like basketball. The game was both a challenge in endurance and accuracy. We had to run a lot to keep up with the movement of the ball, but we also had to be very accurate in our passing of the ball to the next player, while assisting them in making their lay-up shot with absolute accuracy. As I have gotten a little older and a whole lot more out of shape than I used to be, I have neither the endurance, nor the accuracy! I have tried shooting hoops in the driveway with my grandsons, but alas...I stink! I miss more than I hit. My skill didn't leave overnight - it left because I failed to use the skill to keep it 'in shape'. My muscles have lost their tone and my eyesight requires more and more correction every couple of years. All this combined leads to a fairly 'ineffective' basketball player now. Use it or lose it - isn't that what they say? I wonder what we haven't used in a while that we might not even realize we have lost now.....

I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. Ephesians 4:2 MSG

Use it or lost it...don't just sit around on your hands. That is a challenge to us this morning - for most of us actually can associate with the 'use it or lose it' reality. We have stopped using something in our lives, only to find when we need to use it at some later point, we haven't really maintained it, so we don't have it at our disposal any longer. There are talents God has given us that have been tucked away long enough - use them! There are truths we have studied a long time ago - use them! There are relationships that have become a little 'moldy' and dry - restore them. God doesn't want us to lose what he has gifted into our lives - he wants us to use ALL of it!

When it comes to our spiritual walk - we need to remember it is a 'walk' - not an 'armchair' kind existence, but an actual 'progressive' walk that maintains our spiritual 'health' and 'vitality'. My basketball skills are gone - but could they be restored? Yes, with a whole lot of conditioning and time and effort and retraining. If I had of maintained that former conditioning, I'd not need the time, nor as much effort, or the significant amount of retraining I'd require today! In our spiritual walk, we use it, or we lose it. We keep this walk in tip-top condition by walking it out everyday. We listen, observe, adopt, and adapt to what we are instructed in times of prayer. We read, study, and commit to memory so as to know exactly how to live. We serve, sacrifice, and encourage - not because we have to, but because it brings all the truth we have heard and studied into practice in our lives.

Our passage shines light on the idea of noticing differences and quickly mending fences. Much of the drift in our lives isn't because we were paying close attention and taking immediate action - in fact, it is just the opposite. We allow drift - we make way for it by our inattention and delayed responses. When we 'dilly-dally' in taking action, we open the door for that hesitation to become a pattern. When faced with similar circumstances down the road, we dilly-dally once again, allowing just a little bit more drift to come into our lives and relationships. Slowly, but surely, relationships are changed - not for the better, though. What matters to us the most gets the most attention from us. This is a simple truth. If I wanted to be good at basketball again - I'd direct some attention to the physical training required for that sport. If I want to have a solid, growing, and fruitful relationship with Jesus - I direct my attention to doing the things he says will help me grow and be fruitful. If I want solid relationship with others - I direct my attention outside of myself and toward meeting their needs. Just sayin!

Your full attention, please

My mother frequently uses the term "Listen to me!" as a way of getting my attention so that I actually stop, pay close attention, and hear out whatever her idea or issue is at the moment. It isn't always at the most convenient moment, nor is it always easy for her to get out whatever it is she wants to share. Yet, it is important enough for her to ask to for me to hear it, so I respond with, "I'm listening, mom", and she begins.  It isn't said in anger or in a moment of disappointment. Rather, these words are usually spoken in a "sing-song" manner, but with very specific intent - they are intended to get me to REALLY listen to what she was saying. Why? Because she knows she has something to say even if it is getting harder for her to say it! She has walked through much already, learned many lessons, and has the advantage of experience on her side, but the disadvantage of advancing age makes it harder and harder for her to actually form those thoughts into sentences. She wants me to pay attention to the things she needs to say - even when it is hard for her to say it - so sometimes she has to show me because the thoughts just won't form well enough to get her point across. We usually figure it out, but sometimes it can be a little more of a challenge than others!

Dear child, I want your full attention; please do what I show you.  (Proverbs 24:26)

God stands everyday asking for our full attention - knowing he has something which may be hard for us to hear, not always easy for us to understand, but important for us to actually listen and respond to. He is asking us to tune up our ears, focus our minds, and direct our heart toward his voice. Why? Because he knows what lays ahead, how it will affect us, and what we need to make it through! That's love! That's compassion and concern in action. When God asks for our full attention, he is asking us to "narrow" the field of voices we are paying attention to - those we are willing to give careful thought to and respond in some manner. It is a concentration of our faculties that affords him access to ALL of our inner doubts, conflicts, and frustrations. In that 'space of concentration', he sorts things out, brings order to chaos, and gives clarity. When we are so focused on the chaos, we aren't open to the clarity that is at our disposal. So, God asks for our "attention".

Many of us have "attention deficit disorder" when it comes to listening to God (and sometimes when it comes to listening to others). We spend all kinds of time and energy getting distracted by the loudest voice of the moment - those things that seem to tug at our emotional strings. Then we wonder why we are in a "muddle" of chaos emotionally!!! God is seldom the loudest voice! As part of understanding and overcoming our "spiritual attention deficit disorder", it is important to recognize that we limit our success in any matter when we find ourselves focusing on the voice of "emotion". Emotion is irrational - it seldom is based on fact, but rather on "feeling". How the event "makes us feel" becomes predominant, not how it will impact the outcome of our lives if we respond to it in irrational ways. God's voice is rational, focused, and direct!

His voice may not be the loudest, nor may it seem to "stroke us emotionally" just as we would like to be stroked at that moment, but it is reliable and consistent. If we settle into taking time to hear (focusing our attention), then pay attention (doing what we are shown), there is almost always a better emotional outcome for us in the end! God's goal in speaking to us is to keep us safe, give us direction for our present, protecting us into our future - it is something we 'need' that we cannot gather from any other source! So, if we find that we struggle from 'attention-deficit' type behavior when it comes to hearing God, it is time to respond differently when we fell the tug at our heart that begins with the "listen to me" warning that comes from him. It is intended to better us, never hurt us. It is intended to focus us, not lend to our ever-increasing chaos. It is intended to bring us into partnership with him, not a further reliance on our emotions or all those other voices that lead us astray. We often find that we don't need more clarity - we often need less chaos! Just sayin!

Know when to quit...

Do you have enough sense to know when to quit?  In my industry, we call this "work - life balance" - knowing when work needs to come to an end and the things in life which matter outside of work become our focus with enough energy and enthusiasm still left to actually enjoy them.  Quite a few people in your circle of influence may struggle with this "knowing when to quit" kind of thing - whether it is in the realm of a job they go off to each day, or something which distracts them equally as much in their leisure life.  Either way, if there isn't balance, we find ourselves engaged in what becomes the focal point of our lives and this can demand a very disproportionate amount of our time, energy, and heart.

Do not overwork yourself just to become wealthy; have enough sense to know when to quit. As soon as you become fixed on riches, they vanish. For suddenly they sprout wings and become like a soaring eagle flying high in the sky. (Proverbs 23:4-5 VOICE)

Notice that our passage doesn't say have enough sense TO quit - it says have enough sense to KNOW WHEN to quit.  There is a difference.  We can have enough sense TO quit - but we may be falling down from fatigue by the time we reach this point!  Knowing when to quit is a matter of heart, mind, and spirit being aligned - knowing deep down when the place we are at is the point at which we need to take a break from what we are pursuing in order to pursue things of higher value (such as time with God, those we love, and those we care about deeply).  

The focal point of our lives has a tendency to become that which gives us the most satisfaction - or at least promises to do so.  When we have the job as the focal point of our lives, we find ourselves too worn out at the end of the day to enjoy our family or even a little leisure time.  That cannot be good, right?  When we have the leisure stuff as our focal point, we might not have enough to pay the bills, going into debt beyond our ability to repay.  That also cannot be good, right?  Either way, we need to learn this art of "balancing" the two - or we will love one way too much and neglect the other.

We don't work to make ourselves wealthy.  We work to provide for the needs of our family (or our own needs, if we are single).  When God instructed man to work the fields and tend the animals, he didn't have in mind that we were to amass fortunes by doing so - neglecting all other pursuits.  In fact, when you look at what God instructs, he tells us to be sure we don't become so consumed by the pursuit of one thing we neglect everything else in life.  

As the Israelites were about to come into the Promised Land, God actually warned them to not become so consumed by the homes they would inherit without building them with their own hands, the fields they would be gathering from which they had not planted, and even to be very careful about the pursuit of the religious ways of those who dwelt in the land.  Why did he have to tell them all this?  He knew very well that increasing one's wealth brought a certain temptation to focus on that "wealth" rather than on the one who had really made the provision in their lives.  They would become "unbalanced" very quickly and drift away from keeping him central in their lives.

God doesn't oppose us gaining wealth - he opposes it becoming the primary pursuit and the thing upon which we place our trust.  He doesn't oppose us enjoying leisure time - he opposes us putting so much into the pursuit of leisure that we neglect him.  In all cases, he looks to our heart - seeking balance there - with a right focus on him, balance is maintained. Fix your attention on anything else and it will flee from you, causing you to muster even more energy and time to pursue it.  Just sayin!

What you "toying with"?

Desire:  Those things we long for or crave; the hope for satisfaction of some sort.  I think we would all admit to the fact of having desires - some are quite innocent, while others give us a little bit of a challenge in life.  Some desires are easily fulfilled, while others will be the things we chase after repeatedly and find no satisfaction in ever obtaining.  What we forget is the "hold" desires place on us as we pursue whatever it is which becomes the object of our attention (focus).  It is almost impossible to have a desire and then not to want to "go after it" with some form of passionate pursuit.  In the evenings, I will look over at mom and see her pondering something.  I know this usually means she is thinking about what might be in the house which she can "nibble on" for a wee snack to tide her over till bedtime.  She isn't really all that hungry because we had a good dinner - she just wants something crunchy, chewy, or sweet to satisfy a little desire she has within.  I usually suggest the couple of things we have - one from each of these groups - and she chooses the one which tickles her fancy.  We often find ourselves "pondering" the thing we desire.  It becomes the consuming focus of our mind - thought being the thing which gets us to move toward the desire.  I think this is why there is so much emphasis put on being aware of what we are thinking "upon" - because we don't want to dwell on the stuff which will take us down paths better left unexplored!

People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God’s laws. If we follow our desires, we cannot please God. You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you. People who don’t have the Spirit of Christ in them don’t belong to him. But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit. (Romans 8:5-11 CEV)

Probably one of the most apparent issues in this walk we enjoy with Jesus is this constant struggle between what we desire and what we know God wants for us. The main thing God wants us to consider is the type of desire it is we are responding to at any given moment.  We have this "mixture" of desires - some very good or honorable; others kind of self-centered and just plain out of the "list" of desires he'd want us to actually pursue.  To pursue only what we desire is to be thinking of only ourselves - a dangerous focus indeed.  Yet, I have run across people who seem to have their head in the clouds - too spiritual for their own good and certainly for the good of others!  Lest you think I am saying we don't need to ponder the good things God has prepared for us each and everyday, I am not.  I am simply saying we need balance between the spiritual and the practical.  We actually drive people away when all we can ponder and discuss is the spiritual.  I have a tendency to look for people who can maintain this balance - knowing "living out" faith is more important than merely engaging in conversation about it all the time!

Here is the thing we need to take away from our lesson this morning:  If we are ruled by our minds, we will pursue desires which are self-centered and likely to be a little far from what God has planned for our pursuit.  If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, we are more likely to pursue those things God has prepared in advance for us!  Our own desires don't always align with God's. Apparently Satan understands this fact and monopolizes on it!  When we have this "war" of sorts going on in our minds, pondering this desire against that one, we cannot rest assured that as long as that battle is taking place, Satan is intrigued!  He wants to see which one will win out and he isn't pulling for God's!

Christ lives in us - this is the hope of our "winning" over those wrong desires. It isn't rocket science, my friends.  In living an "exchanged life" we find our own desires beginning to take backseat to the desires of the one we serve (Christ Jesus).  It is God's Spirit living within us which makes all the difference in determining which of these desires will become the preeminent one which gets and holds our attention.  If you haven't figured that out already, the thing which gets our attention will play upon our attention until we begin to toy with the idea of actually surrendering to that object.  Now, if this is a God-thing we are "toying with" in our thoughts - the thing which gets our attention - the surrender will be godly and good!  

With God's Spirit within, the desires we once were consumed by will begin to drop away.  This is a gradual process for most of us - for others, it may come in a matter-of-fact way once and for all.  The truth of the matter is that no matter "how" we see this exchange of desires occurring within us, we all have exactly the same "resources" at our disposal to overcome those desires which are too self-absorbed and which are going to take us down the wrong path.  No one is without these resources if you have said "yes" to Jesus.  The Spirit of God brings all we need to not only change our focus, but to help us differentiate between what is worthy of our continued attention and what is not.  Just sayin!

Principle 17: Be Aware of Your Heart

We have a significant issue in society today related to the stability of the institution of marriage - what was designed to be the pledge of one life to another for the entirety of their lifetimes.  We even have issues with figuring out how to define marriage anymore - with everyone trying to "redefine" it to fit their desire.  Probably not too many of us think we will deal with adultery when we enter into marriage, any more than we think we will have to deal with the issues of prostitution or pornography.  Yet, today's culture puts the sanctity of this union we refer to as "marriage" to the test with all kinds of issues, doesn't it?  You only need to view one night's television to reveal the subtle undertones of the issues we are facing - some not as subtle as others! What we don't realize is that damage we do when we give our hearts (and bodies) to someone outside of the sanctity of marriage - whether it is through prostitution, pornography, adultery, or fornication.  It damages the beauty of what God designed within the boundaries of marriage.

Dear child, I want your full attention; please do what I show you.  A whore is a bottomless pit; a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.  She’ll take you for all you’ve got; she’s worse than a pack of thieves.  (Proverbs 23:26-28 MSG)

Our seventeenth principle begins with a "wake up" call.  Solomon lays it all out there in these principles for living a life with a solid foundation, but midway through, he calls us to attention - wanting our "full attention".  There is a father's heart here - wanting us to realize the gravity of what he is about to share with us.  More importantly, he is asking us not only to "pay attention" which involves the senses of listening and seeing, but to then go away "doing" what it is he has said and shown.  It is the coupled method of learning - see one, do one, then be able to be an example to teach one.  But this lesson must be pretty important because he calls us to attention - gets our focus again, as though we may have drifted a little in our sincerity of laying all the foundation stones in place one-by-one.  Why is there this sense of urgency on his part for us to hear and obey?  I believe it is because he has recognized the pull of anything which takes us away from "dead center" and grabs the strings of our hearts, entangling them in its grasp.

At first, we may only think this passage deals with prostitutes (whores), but read it in some additional translations and you will hear the undertones of a concerned father warning against the misdirection of heart which carries a good many into adulterous paths.  In the most literal sense, this is the violation of the "marriage bed" - the giving of oneself sexually to anyone other than your spouse.  The issue at hand is that of giving one's heart to anyone to whom it does not belong.  To begin with, our heart belongs to God FIRST. We can actually "whore" our hearts to many a thing or person, can't we?  Any time we put another (even ourselves) in the position God deserves, we are "whoring" ourselves to another.  We are violating the relationship God wants to have with his people.  I like the NIV translation, because it refers to this way as a "deep pit" - something which entraps and makes it difficult to get out of.  Anything or anyone that takes the attention of our heart, grabbing hold of its affections and attentions is a dangerous thing and we should be alert to avoid it at all cost.  This is the underlying meaning of this passage.

Yes, there is a clear call to keep our hearts pure in the realm of our marriage - avoiding giving our hearts to anyone other than our spouse.  Yet, the deeper meaning is to keep our hearts pure and in love with the one who gives us the very breath we rely upon for life itself - God.  In turn, we avoid the many pitfalls which await us if we don't.  The issue at hand is that of focus - for what we focus on the most gets the priority of our attention.  To have any other focus than him will introduce many an unwanted issue into our lives, just as much as having any other focus in our married lives other than our spouse would create a similar type of havoc.  The call is to pay attention - to get our focus right.  We don't get lured by the adulterous or whore when our focus is on the one we love the most!  Just sayin!

Football anyone?

We sometimes get into a pickle and then wonder how on earth we got ourselves where we stand at the moment, right?  What we do in those moments is "look back".  We are trying to figure out what brought us to this point - because we really don't know where we "slipped up".  Truth be told, we do this more often than we'd like to admit - finding ourselves "looking back" for that moment in time when we made the choice to go one way when we were being beckoned another.  Probably one of the most telling things we will discover is not some "point" where we slipped up, but in what it was we allowed "into" our lives at that point.  We allowed something to invade our lives which actually "ran interference" with the truths we knew to be true, or the choices we knew to be right.  When a football team assigns someone to "run interference" they are asking that individual or group of individuals to divert the attention of the other players on the field so they can sneak past them with the ball.  It is a ploy to divert attention.  That is one of the oldest tricks in the books - yet, we fall for it hook, line, and sinker over and over again!

Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license—which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.  (Jude 3-4 MSG)

It is football season in the United States again, so pardon me for a few moments if I use a few illustrations from this great pastime.  Running interference is made possible because you get to a place where you are so distracted you NEGLECT to notice the activities going on anywhere other than the one place you have your attention directed.  This is not a bad thing when you don't take your eye off the ball in the first place, but when you allow yourself to be distracted by what you believe the play will be, neglecting to see those activities as ploys to misdirect your attention, you will likely let one by you in the process.  In a spiritual sense, neglect is not usually a lack of information - for we have studied the play book.  It is not usually a lack of revelation - for we can see the movement all around us.  It is not usually a lack of motivation - for we are IN the game.  We just neglect to notice what is right in front of us because we get so easily distracted by what appears to be "real".  

Teams have to work together - some play offense, while others play defense. Both know the work of the other and know when it is time for each to do their part in the game.  Together, they are building the best strategy to get to the goal.  The offense works to actually move the ball toward the goal.  The defense works to keep the other guys from scoring.  Together, they build a strong team.  If one doesn't work with the other, they are letting down the other parts of the team.  A team with a good defense is nothing without also having those who know how to run offense - we have to actually move the ball toward the goal post if we want to ever score!  

Another thing you might just notice is how much the team members depend on the communication which takes place on the field.  They need clear direction from the quarterback and then they have to be keenly aware of the movement of others.  Whether it is verbal or non-verbal communication, they need to be paying attention.  A failure to communicate will lead to chaos in running the play.  Some will be trying to protect the ball, but the ball is far down field already.  Some will be looking to receive a pass, but the plan was to run the ball, not throw it down field.  Paying attention to the "game plan" is important - and each player takes their lead from the quarterback.  It is kind of like us needing to listen intently to the instruction (game plan) God has for us before we just go charging down field in our lives!

Each player kind of has a "grid" of sorts they are responsible for in the game. For example, the center snaps the ball, then goes to work blocking the defensive players from the other team trying to "upset" the quarterback before the ball can make its way into play.  The offensive guards are right next to the center and work very hard to create an impenetrable line so the quarterback has time to get the ball into play - either running it or throwing it so as to move it down field.  The "grid" we play within is important - it is our position and we must operate well within that position.  We have to "guard our grid" - making sure we pay attention to block those who would want to upset the "play".

I don't think we could do this talk about football justice without spending just a little time focusing on the priorities of the players.  Each player has a priority which sort of aligns with their position and whether they are playing offense or defense.  If they have any other priority at the moment other than the priority of either defending the quarterback so the ball can get into play, or squelching the attempts of the other team to get their ball into play, there will be a runaway with the points scored by the other guys!  When we get "idle" on our thoughts, we have a tendency to allow our focus to drift.  When focus drifts, we begin to lose sight of our priorities.  Nothing will do more to make a muddle out of things than misdirected priorities other than perhaps neglected priorities.

Lots of kids will toss a football around with the gang of neighborhood kids - but their game isn't as "tailored" as the game run on professional football fields.  It is kind of like they can be more "creative" in how they call the plays and what plays they will run.  Why?  They don't adhere to the rules quite as strictly.  They can get "creative" with the plays because this isn't the "real deal".  In much of life, we try to "run plays" which are really not intended for the "real deal" thing we call life.  God doesn't so much look for our creativity as he looks for our consistency.  What sets the professional teams apart from the backyard players is the consistency of performance which comes from practicing over and over the same plays.  They become consistent through practice.  This isn't too different from what God asks of us - consistency in our walk because we put into practice over and over again the things he sets in motion in order to grow us, protect us, and get us closer to the goal.  Just sayin!

You and me - let it be!

Distraction:  That which divides the attention or prevents concentration. Distractions are often things which provide some type of amusement or entertainment - taking away our focus.  The idea of being distracted hits home whenever we have to put on the brakes too fast because we have been daydreaming, or at times when we find ourselves being asked for our opinion on what has just been said but have no idea what was actually said because we were miles off in la-la land!  We all struggle with distractions - some of us worse than others.  For some it is a relationship - the amount of time and effort we spend in the relationship actually deters us from being involved in things which are most important in our lives - things like time with God, attention to our family, etc.  For others it is some form of media - taking away attention we should have been directing toward relationships, work which is piling up around the home, etc.  There are innumerable ways to be distracted - so we must learn to manage our distractions as well as possible!

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”  “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  (Luke 10:38-42 NIV)

Distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  This sentence tells us much, doesn't it?  Focus was taken away by something which seemed important at the time, but which actually paled in comparison to what really deserved the attention.  Preparations that had to be made - for some compelling reason, the preparations were more important - they weighed heavily on her mind and heart.  There is much to be said about the things which distract our minds and hearts - for most of the battle with finding right focus is because of what convinces our minds it needs our attention more and plays on our hearts for its involvement.

I have read a couple of posts by friends recently, struggling with this time of year when kids go off to college, leaving home a little emptier than usual. What I hear behind their words is the intense feeling of loss - the void created by the "no longer present" son or daughter.  I think most mothers deal with this "empty nest" thing at one time or another.  What they are really saying is they no longer have the opportunity to just hang out with their kids - the quiet created by their absence is almost overwhelming.  It tugs at the heartstrings and makes one a little melancholy.  I think Jesus may have been giving us some advice on relationships when he spoke these words to Martha. He may not have been leaving Martha with an "empty nest", but I think he was speaking to the principle of enjoying today what may not be present with you tomorrow!

There are times I would rather come home at night and just veg-out.  The day has been frustrating, the problems innumerable, and the tension created by deadlines tiring.  I just don't want to talk anymore, certainly don't want to solve any problems, and cannot bear the thought of being purposeful in my actions!  Yet, the moment I open the door, I am greeted by the one who will not always be with me - mom.  As she is now well into her nineties, I  have precious little time to enjoy her presence with me.  Although it would be easier to just veg-out, there is something very important about hearing her tell about her day, telling her about mine, and then just sitting together on the couch.  Many times we don't even have to say anything - we just have to be near each other.  What I need to learn is the principle of putting aside distractions for the purpose of investing in what matters - what deserves my attention today because it will not always be with me.

God's presence is something we cultivate.  When we choose to spend time with him, avoiding the pull of the many distractions which certainly tug at our minds and hearts, we find something which can never be taken away from us. Unlike the "natural" relationships we have enjoyed, the presence of God is something we can count on to never leave or forsake us!  What we learn in our "natural" relationships is something we can take forward into our "spiritual" relationship with Jesus.  It is like God gave us our "natural" connection with friends and family because he knew we needed to see and feel Jesus in others.  It makes him more "real" to us.  That moment of connection in the natural relationship is really assisting us in understanding the love, grace, and presence of God.  So, but cultivating the "natural" relationships we have been given, we might just be learning how it is we are to connect with Jesus!

Whenever we lay aside the distractions of the moment, investing ourselves into the ones who fill our moments, we find the greatest reward possible. Just sayin!

Clutter got you?

PAY ATTENTION:  Did you ever stop to consider these two words in that order? First, to "pay" means you give something over in order to obtain something different.  It has the idea of "transfer".  "Attention" has the idea of directing one's mind toward something.  So the "transfer" here is one of "mind space" - we are giving our "mind space" to another in order to have what it is they will "fill" that space with.  At first that may not seem like much, but if we do this enough, we become filled with the right stuff.  If we yield our "mind space" to the wrong stuff - that which is very limiting in its focus and which really has no lasting benefit for us - we find our minds become "cluttered" rather than more "ordered".  Maybe this is why God adds the next words - listen to me.  The idea of giving one's mind space over to God in order for him to fill it involves some willingness on our parts to make the exchange, but it also requires us to sort out some of the stuff occupying space today which only adds to the clutter!  If you have ever had a garage or yard sale, you understand this concept.  What probably precipitated the "sale" was the idea of space being cluttered!  You got to the point of being fed up with the clutter and just wanted to get it out of the way.  Instead of just letting it go, you hold the sale.  Why?  It is stuff we got attached to - it had some value to us - and probably still does.  So, we hope to get a little of that value back by selling it.  The problem with this is we don't get what it is we think the "value" really is!  I wonder if we do the same thing with God?  He gets us to the point where we recognize we have a whole lot of clutter in our minds and then we want to barter with him to have him "give us something of equal value" to replace it!  Silly us!  The value of clutter is really no longer "valuable" to us!

“Pay attention, my people.   Listen to me, nations.  Revelation flows from me.    My decisions light up the world. My deliverance arrives on the run, my salvation right on time.    I’ll bring justice to the peoples.  Even faraway islands will look to me and take hope in my saving power.  Look up at the skies, ponder the earth under your feet.  The skies will fade out like smoke,  the earth will wear out like work pants, and the people will die off like flies.  But my salvation will last forever, my setting-things-right will never be obsolete. (Isaiah 51:4-6 MSG)

Clutter is really a disorderly heap - another word for "litter".  Now, does that make you look at your "mind's clutter" a little differently?  It should, because nothing in your mind which is "litter" really has any further value.  Maybe this is why God tells us to let go of offenses - they are "litter" taking up space in the place where God wants to go about "transferring" something better for our enjoyment.  Perhaps this is why he tells us to get rid of gossip - because all the imagined stuff we create in our minds about another really keep us from seeing them as God sees them.  Could it be God wants us to get rid of the "litter" in our lives so he can fill the space with his grace, love, and mercy?  If grace was there, we probably wouldn't take offense so easily.  If love was there, we probably would guard against the words of gossip.  

Back to our passage.  God is really telling us to be willing to make the exchange of what it is which holds our focus today in order to have our focus for tomorrow expanded.  In other words, if I let go of what doesn't lend value today, I will be open to having something of superior value occupy the space once occupied by only the "litter" of my thoughts and memories.  He gives us some other hope here, too.  Let's explore:

-  Revelation flows from him.  Another word for revelation is disclosure.  What really happens with all that "litter" in our minds?  Isn't it something we rarely "disclose".  The opposite of disclosure is openness.  I don't know about you, but I want my mind to being open to his teaching, hearing what his voice has to speak, and being attentive to what it is he has to show me.  Revelation - disclosure - flows from him!  Isn't this good news.  Another word for revelation is exposure.  This probably scares us a little, but just as when we finally decide to clean out the garage of its "clutter", so it is with our minds and hearts.  There might just be some "exposure" of stuff we didn't even know we had kept around all that time!

-  God's purpose in revelation is not to do us in or set us to flight.  It is to set things in right order.  A few year's back, my mother was coming to live with me.  During the week's preceding the move, I spent time "decluttering" the various cabinets, closets, and spaces of my home.  Do you know how I felt when I had that project done?  Awesome!  Why?  Simply because all the remaining "stuff" mattered and it was in right order.  Guess what?  My cabinets and closets don't look that way after over four years of being together! It is time for a little "revelation" of the clutter again - in order to get rid of what we don't use and what takes up precious space.  Our minds are filled with stuff taking up precious space.  Isn't it good to spend some time on a regular basis going through the "space" to ensure it is clutter-free?

-  There is something about "paying attention" which never gets old when we are paying attention to the right stuff.  If you have ever just had the TV or radio on as "background noise" while you went about doing what it is you were otherwise engaged in, you know what I mean about paying attention to the right stuff.  You will be going along, then almost all of a sudden, something catches your attention.  You hear something of interest.  You have no idea how you got to the point of "paying attention" to this particular broadcast, but something "hooked" you.  All the other stuff was just "background" - the thing which caused you to sit up and take notice was the "information exchange" which occurs as a result of paying attention.  God's revelation is very similar - it never gets old, but we need to be available to receive it.  Just sayin!

Fritter not!

Are you a "fritterer"?  You know, someone who sees time slip through their fingers, then wonders where it went?  To fritter means to allow something to slip away little by little.  It is unlike a glass slipping from our hand and shattering on the ground because we had wet hands when we tried to hold it. In this case, were were unprepared to hold the glass securely, so it slipped and we were full conscious of it slipping.  To fritter a glass out of your hand is kind of like dozing off with a glass of water in your hand.  Slowly, little by little, the glass tips ever so slightly.  Then it tips a little more, and a little more.  Then in the next short passage of time, the glass lays on its side, contents flowing freely from it.  We can remain asleep, unaware of the contents being spilled, or the condition of our "hand" which "relaxed" its grip and allowed the spillage to occur.

A life frittered away disgusts God; he loves those who run straight for the finish line. (Proverbs 15:9 MSG)

The key difference between the two events described above is awareness.  In the first circumstance, we were aware the glass was slipping, but could do little to stop it simply because we weren't well prepared when we picked up the glass.  In the latter, we were neither aware, nor attentive.  Life and time come at us this way sometimes.  There are things which life seems to ensure gets on "our agenda" for the day - some we know about, others we don't.  I work in the healthcare arena, so my "agenda" is constantly being altered by the immediate demands of the "urgent" or "emergent".  

As aware as I am of what needs to be done for the day, some "agendas" have to be placed aside for the more urgent needs of another - the glass slips from my hand because I was not prepared for the next demand.  In these cases, I may lose control of my "agenda" for a period of time, but I still remain very aware of what requires my attention when I can get back on track.  I have learned the "urgent" may cause things to slip out of my control for a while, but in short order, I will get back on track, because I have prepared for the "urgent".  You see, I work "ahead" a little in many of my tasks, so I don't see them slip from my hands when the "urgent" comes my way.  As a matter of fact, I am writing this blog post five days in advance of it being posted.  Slippage is insured, but I don't have to be unprepared for it!

There have been times when things seem to be running rather "smoothly" - times like this almost set me up to "fritter".  It is not that I am lazy, but when there are no "urgent" or "emergent" things demanding my attention, it is easy to change my pace to a slower, less hectic pace for completion of my agenda.  Now, for most of us, we'd rather have the latter, but we all know it is not always the best for us.  We are actually doing more harm when we fritter away our time, talent, or treasure, aren't we?  God made each of us with both the ability to experience the "adrenaline rush" of the "urgent" and to enjoy the "peacefulness" of the routine.  

If we are always operating in the mode of "frittering away", we are really operating in the arena of becoming less and less alert to our surroundings.  In time, we become less alert to the things we'd normally pay close attention to, such as the glass of water in our hand!  In so doing, we allow things to slip away - poured out, wasted.  This may not be a big deal if the "glass" contained only water, but if the "glass" contained something more significant, such as deep purple grape juice, you might be more than a little concerned when you finally realized what you'd allowed by your "frittering".  Now, think of your "glass" as filled with relationships, talents, and treasures.  If we fritter away our relationships, we often neglect them little by little until one day our glass is empty.  Sadly, we never realized the "spillage" over time, but nonetheless, it occurred.  If our glass is filled with talents and treasures, the slippage may leave us feeling empty, unfulfilled and a little remorseful over the loss.  Either way, we realize the impact of our "frittering" way too late!

Let's be the kind of people who are alert to the tendency to "fritter away" what we may not want to find ourselves without!  I guarantee you, today's attentiveness to your "glass" will make all the difference with tomorrow's supply within the "glass"!  Just sayin!

Invitation to attend

¹⁸ If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. 

(Proverbs 29:18)

It has occurred to me that not knowing what God is doing is often the condition of many of our hearts each day - we are "along for the ride", but oblivious to the destination.  One of the questions the pastor asked yesterday was, "What is this Christian experience all about anyway?"  It occurred to me this morning that many of us would have a hard time with that question - not because we aren't enjoying our salvation, but because we really aren't sure what we are doing with our salvation.

Our passage puts it pretty plainly.  We can head out for a destination - not knowing the reason we are travelling the road we are on, oblivious to the traveling companions we have along the way - all the while making forward progress of some sort.  The question we need to ask is if it the "right" progress?  Are we really heading in the way we should be heading?  There is much to be said for "blind trust" in God's plan for our lives - but I think God wants us to have at least "glimpses" of his purpose!  Without a vision, the people perish.

Attending to what God reveals takes some pretty intense effort on our parts.  First, and foremost, we have to be exposed to his truth.  There are a variety of ways to be exposed - through a message preached, a blog written, or by discovery of his truths directly from his Word.  We can be just as "under-nourished" spiritually as we can be physically - just by taking in stuff we don't really need at that moment, but it is convenient.  Just living on a diet of truth that someone else has gleaned for us from the Word is like eating pre-prepared food all the time.  We will receive something, but we won't have the reward of discovering the many ingredients that went into its preparation.

Second, we have to be invested in the process of discovery of God's plan.  Our writer puts it as "attending to" - in other words, paying attention!  When we attend to what God reveals, we are devoting ourselves to the mission of following what he purposes for us.  We are committed to tend that truth as though it were a secret garden just revealed to us for our enjoyment.  We are invested in the outcome of what that garden produces - not just in the enjoyment of its wonderful fragrances.

Last, but certainly not least, God is the one doing the revealing - we are simply placing ourselves in a position to be available to the revelation.  There are many times I hear news reports about a comet that is passing by - not set to appear again for another fifty years.  I want to be able to see it, but am I willing to pay the price of being up at 2 a.m. to see it?  Not really!  If it could show up before 9 p.m. I'd be much happier!  I don't get to see the comet, even though it is right there revealing itself to me for my enjoyment, all because I am not willing to place myself in a position to enjoy its revealing!  

When we place ourselves in the position to receive revelation - open heart, readied mind, available spirit, obedient will - we are never disappointed.  God's delight is in blessing us with more revelation of his plan and purpose when our heart is set on discovery.  His wisdom is imparted when a mind is readied to receive truth.  His Spirit is set on opening us up to new possibilities when our spirit is in alignment with his.  His leading becomes our delight when our will is submitted obediently to his purpose.  In fact, as our passage says, we become "most blessed" when we are open to God's revelation.  The key is in "attending" to that revelation.