The Plumbline

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. ( Psalm 90:12   NLT ) As a new year dawns upon us and we consider the many accomplishments, heartaches, and unfinished business from the previous, it is good to just stop for a moment to consider what it is we take from the past year and what should remain behind. We want to "take" the things we can count as lessons, but we don't want to clutter up this new year with the things best left behind, such as worries, envy, and bitterness. As we "grow in wisdom" we come to understand there a just some things best left in the past and better things we need to focus on in the present! Benjamin Franklin said, "Lost time is never found again." It makes sense, because time is something like sand slipping through our fingers and just not really able to "remade" no matter how much we try. As we look back over 2016, let us not forget the things we really might see today as disapp...

I recently saw a post on my social media feed with a simply phrase:  "You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it."  It was set over a simple photo of a farm and farmhouse.  I think it probably had a couple of messages behind it, such as farming is not for wimps!  It probably had another meaning closer to the passage below - we don't receive lessons in this life through osmosis, but because we walk through them and learn from them.  Someone might think they were given the life they were given because only THEY could live up to the challenge.  The challenge wasn't given to you because you had the strength, it was given to you to reveal the strength the Almighty would give you to walk through it. Those who learn from the lessons of life will join the others who are wise.   Those who disregard discipline sabotage themselves, but those who are open to correction gain understanding. Reverence for the Eternal is the first lesson o...

Anytime I plan a road trip, I do two things - study the maps and plan for the unexpected.  There are lots and lots of things we do to plan for the expected. I shop for munchies to sustain us in journey and make longer patches of road a little more tolerable.  I might even bring along a crossword puzzle book or a book on CD to pass a little time while those tires are spinning on the open highways.  Another thing I do is pack well, so as to leave enough space in the car to stretch out and enjoy the ride.  I also said I planned for the unexpected by checking my air pressure in the tires and having the mechanic look the car over to be sure all the parts and pieces are in good working order.  I fill the tank to the brim to get the most mileage out of the tank as possible.  I also bring along a roll of paper towel for those moments of little "oops" which will occur, a box of tissue to catch the occasional sneezes (and double as toilet paper in a pinch), and tras...

As I was growing up, we had a little Manchester Terrier named Judy.  She was this shiny black bundle of energy and warmth.  I received her in an ice cream carton on my first birthday.  I taught her to sit, but try as I might, she didn't quite learn the "play dead" command very well.  She had too much desire to be up in our laps, running after things, or just plain being loved on to actually "play dead".  If you haven't seen a dog "play dead", it is kind of humorous to watch.  There is this sudden lack of movement, even down to the eye contact ceasing, until they hear the command to get up.  They aren't really dead, they are just "playing" along for a treat of some kind!  I wonder how many times we "play dead" to sin in our lives, all the while having just an overwhelming desire to be up and running toward something we desire again?  I also wonder how many times we are just plain "playing dead" to sin, but all the ...

Honey in scripture often is used to describe all that is sweet and pleasing - both in the natural and spiritual sense.  Therefore, when scripture declares we should eat honey, it is saying we should pursue those things which will bring delight and satisfaction to our spiritual man.  There are definitely some things which are better to pursue than others - especially as it applies to being "built up", encouraged, or finding peace.  These are the things God wants us to become "acquainted" with in our daily "intake".  It is important to note that honey in the Old Testament region of Palestine was not harvested from bee farms, but rather had to be dug out of crevices in the rocks and the hollow of trees.  As such, we receive a word picture of having to "mine" the bountiful goodness God has prepared for us.  It requires some effort on our part, but it well worth the investment! Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you— and delicacies that melt in ...

Many of us have a tendency to listen, but be less than attentive to what we are hearing - something which quite honestly results in a little less than "perfect obedience" when it comes to us listening to God.  It should not surprise us God puts these concepts of "listening" with "obedience" and "learning" with "living".  What we hear, we are to respond to in a prompt manner.  What we come to know, we are to live out.  It is repeated over and over in scripture.  In fact, James warns against being a "hearer" and not a "doer" of the Word -  Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other.  Act  on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like . (James 1:22-23 MSG)  This "in one ear, out the other" thing runs...

The chapter I chose today deals with a prophesy given to Ezekial about a valley of dry bones.  He is taken to a place where there are skeletal remains all over the place, totally picked clean, dried up by the sun and time.  God leads him around the valley, then through it, experiencing the full vastness of its expanse and the multitude of bones contained there.  We probably won't experience anything like this, but there is significant meaning within this prophesy for the nation of Israel.  I also think there could be a lesson or two for us, if we look close enough! Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’   “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘ God , the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my pe...