The Plumbline

“I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people. You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding. Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome. There is nothing devious or crooked in it. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge." (Proverbs 8:4-9) Listen. Hear. Two commands, but two interwoven actions. Once must listen to hear, but one may not learn until they have truly heard. We might think God's Word is hard to understand, but he is calling out to us from its pages, willing us to just listen and learn of his goodness, grace, and love. Understanding is gained from time spent listening and allowing our hearts to truly hear his instructions. The wise will listen with the intention of hearing. The foolish will have listened but will not trul...

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. (2 Timothy 3:16) Robert Half told us that 'when one teaches, two learn.' I couldn't agree more! In order to teach, one must learn first what one is teaching, but within the teaching, additional learning actually occurs. It is kind of like a tiny embryo of knowledge begins to break into two, then four, and so on. Half also put a question out there for us to consider today: "When your future arrives, will you blame your past?" Too many times, we blame our past, but did we have the opportunity to learn from whatever it was in our past that we blame today and just didn't heed that opportunity? If you ever get into the scripture and find there is 'new meaning' in a passage you have likely read time and time again, you are just seeing it from today's perspective. T...

My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. Don’t let them out of your sight. Never stop thinking about them. These words are the secret of life and health to all who discover them. Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life. (Proverbs 4:20-23) When God asks us to pay attention it is just that he knows how easily we become distracted by other things or people. The 'loudest voice' or the 'shiniest image' gets our attention and before we know it, we are following the crowd and not him. I recently attended a large gathering and at the end of the event, huge crowds all marched out in no particular order, but with intent. I took particular notice of those who were trying to 'swim upstream', pushing past those who were intent on going one direction when they were committed to going the other. Sometimes our Christian walk can seem a bit like we are 'swimming upstream' while the crowds are swimming smoothly ...

How does a man become wise? The first step is to trust and reverence the Lord! Only fools refuse to be taught. Listen to your father and mother. What you learn from them will stand you in good stead; it will gain you many honors. (Proverbs 1:8-9) One does not become wise overnight - it takes a whole lot of lessons taught, grasped, and then lived out to make one wise. One thing we can learn overnight - how to live like a foolish person! We can make bad decisions quicker than we breathe. Just like that, we move in the wrong direction, and before you know it, we are speeding in the pursuit of something that we should have left alone. Don't believe me? Think about the last argument you had with someone, or the last time you gave into a craving for chocolate, ice cream, or some decadent treat. What got you there is not what will get you out of there! You need wisdom - to understand and recognize you are making a wrong move, then to turn away from that course of action, and take the step...

Sophocles reminded us: "Quick decisions are unsafe decisions." I have made my share of those 'impromptu' decisions, only to regret the aftermath of not having taken more time to think things through. How about you? Deciding without knowing all the facts can lead to unforeseen consequences. Ever turn the wrong way thinking you were going to take a shortcut somewhere only to find yourself smack-dab in the middle of a traffic jam? The bad decision not only made you late, but it gave you unwanted stress and anxiety as you crept along in all that traffic. While that may not have been what some may label as an 'unsafe' decision, it might have been 'unsafe' in the terms of what it did to your reputation by being late, or in how it affected the others who were waiting on your arrival in terms of their worry, lost work time, or frustrations. As I have said on more than one occasion, our decisions - good or bad - affect not only us, but all those around us. Prid...

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (Ephesians 5:1) As parents, we know we are being 'watched' by our children all of the time. We can try that "do as I say, not as I do" thing, but we all know how well that one works! Kids see things and then they 'imitate' them. I remember my dad making things in the shop. He'd hand me a hammer and have me straighten bent nails. I wasn't doing the same thing as dad, but I was right there learning how to hold a hammer and aim at something with it. While some may not think this is a significant lesson, I will assure you I scored higher in my 'mechanic' section of my Army placement exam than ...

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds. (John F. Kennedy) The mind of a person with understanding gets knowledge; the wise person listens to learn more. (Proverbs 18:15) I would like us to consider if we are listening to just 'hear', or are we listening to 'learn more'? The first option is a very common occurrence in society today - someone talks, we listen, but do we really hear their heart, understand their turmoil, or experience their grief? When we listen to 'learn more' there is an investment of ourselves in the life of the one we are actually 'hearing'.  God wants to be the first person we listen to 'learn more' from in this walk we undertake each day with him. He also wants us to develop this sense of 'learning more' when we engage with others who come across our path each day. It is good to hear but hearing alone doesn't really require that much effort. We get 'knowledge' as we hear, but we ...

You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book. (Psalm 56:8) As I grow a bit older each year, I notice new 'aches and pains' that weren't there a few years back. I hear the creak and crackle of the joints. I don't sleep all the way through the night anymore and find I toss and turn a bit too much at times. It is good to know God isn't unaware of these changes - in fact, he is tracking them probably more than we are! Sleepless nights aren't very frequent for me. In fact, I usually find it easy to get to sleep - it is falling back to sleep after I have awakened in the wee hours of the morning that is harder. I have noticed it is often in these times of being awake and 'tossing about' a bit that God speaks to me. He not only shows me things I need to address in my life, but it is amazing how he will spark a creative idea or help me 'fix' a problem I have b...

God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. (I Corinthians 2:9) Why do we study the Word of God? Isn't it because we want to get to know Jesus just a little bit better each day? We want to go 'deeper' in our relationship - not content to remain superficial in our devotion or dedication. We truly want to be disciples - ones who are taught and then who follow what it is they are taught. As I have said on numerous occasions, just being taught is one thing - actually following what we are taught is another.  A disciple is more than a 'learner', though. A disciple is also a worshiper, servant to others, and one who is able to give witness to what God has done in their lives. We study to learn how God moves, what he desires of us...

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14, 16) I like how Jesus wasn't afraid to break it down for his disciples. It gives me hope when I have to admit to God that I don't understand a particular lesson he is teaching me. The truth is that if these disciples who were right there at the feet of Jesus when he was teaching them face-to-face in real-time presence were struggling to 'get' some of the truths Jesus was sharing with them, then why will it be any different for us? We...

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (2 Peter 1:5-8) If you have ever started a 'project', then realize it sits unfinished some months later, you are not likely alone in that 'project completion' cycle. Many of us are great at 'making starts', but then somewhere down the road it all fizzles out. Why? We began with all the gusto in the world, but somehow that gusto didn't carry us along to the finish line. W...

Am I the only one who has those awkward silent moments when you just stunned somebody with what you just said, then you have this shuddering feeling sweep over you that says, "I am going to regret having said that"? If you have ever found yourself thinking, "I wish I hadn't said that", you are probably in good company - you are right there with me. Most of us have experienced some moment of remorse over poorly chosen words. We just had no idea of the impact they'd make when they were actually spoken, because we didn't consider them well, nor did we consider the audience who would take those words in and sometimes even take them to heart. Irresponsible talk makes a real mess of things, but a reliable reporter is a healing presence. (Proverbs 13:17 MSG) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if...

Do you remember being in school as a kid and looking forward to that last bell of the school year - when you knew school was out for those summer months and you were going to 'luxuriate' in all the fun and games summer offered? It was different hearing that final bell at the end of the school year than all those bells announcing the end of a school day, wasn't it? It had a sense of 'freedom' or 'liberty' that you were excited to embrace. It meant you were going to be able to sleep in, frolic in the pool, have sleep overs, and even perhaps enjoy a family vacation somewhere. If you were honest, you almost were giddy with excitement at the possibilities laid before you with all that freedom at your fingertips! I wonder if we feel that same sense of anticipation and almost 'giddiness' with our freedom in Christ - the place where we lay down all the stuff that burdened us and then launch off into a new found freedom. It is a place where we find ourselves ...

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. (George Bernard Shaw) How are you doing on that 'mistake' count? I could fill journals! Mistakes are a part of life - good or bad judgment is the only thing that contributes to mistake making - right timing combined with bad judgment can make for an equally messed up outcome. There are lots and lots of checks and balances that are in play every day to keep us from 'messing up', but you and I both know we don't always follow the rules or maintain a perfect balance! Mistakes aren't always bad, though. Yes, they can be costly, but the 'expense' of making a mistake is actually one way of saying we just had an investment made into our 'learning'! For a good man may fall seven times and get back up again, but the wicked will stumble around and fall into misfortune. (Proverbs 24:17) Scripture doesn't tell us a good man won't fall (fail) - it...

Of all human activities, man's listening to God is the supreme act of his reasoning and will.  (Pope Paul VI) Listening to God is harder than you might think! We can 'hear' God and then we can really "HEAR" God. The first 'hearing' is just merely letting it go in one ear, consider it a little while, then lose it as fast as we received it. The latter 'HEARING' is us really being intent on ruminating on what God tells us and allowing that word he gives to begin to affect our total being - thoughts, emotions, attitude, and eventually our actions. Did you stop for a moment to consider what Pope Paul said there - listening to God is really an act of the will and our 'reasoning' power. Do you know how to always have the right answer when you need it? You learn it before you need it! Joy is found in giving the right answer. And how good is a word spoken at the right time! (Proverbs 15:23) The 'right answer' isn't all that far away fro...

  I don't usually post images on my feed, but today this one caught my eye and it made me ponder just a little bit how much we all probably try to 'erase' our mistakes. I don't think I am in this alone, am I? The times we make mistakes can be quite painful, with our memories lending to the painfulness by constantly helping us to recall just how miserably we failed! I think we all get carried away in the memories from time to time - recounting just how far from the mark we were when we hit that 'bottom' place. The mistakes of our past are not something we should ever discount, though. They are indeed 'stepping stones' into the throne room of grace. Were it not for those mistakes, how close to Jesus would you be today? I daresay those mistakes have actually drawn you closer to him! There is something 'humiliating' in making the same mistake, I know this, but there is something 'liberating' in bringing those mistakes (even the ones we repeat...