Committed to memory

It is of no use to commit whole pages to memory, merely to recite them once without hesitation; you must think of the meaning more than the words - of the ideas more than the language. (Dorothea Dix)

If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them. You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand—you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” (Psalm 40:5-8)

I used to think I had to memorize all these verses in the Bible to be a Christian. I am not much of a memorizer, though. I can do it, but to simply recite these verses I have learned over the years is not really anything all that profound. In fact, they can be like 'clanging cymbals' or 'noisy gongs' if all I do is memorize them, but they don't really 'get into' my heart and affect the choices I make. The most profound 'use' of the Word of God in my life has been when his Word gets into the mess or muddle of my life and finally straightens things out in a way I could never do on my own. 

The more of his Word that gets 'worked into' the fibers of my being, the more I find my character begins to change. My 'internal drive' is different than it was before - I don't just see things from my crazy, mixed-up mind's eye view, but I see them as he sees them. As Dix said, the 'meaning' matters way more than the words. When we allow God to speak 'meaning' into our lives through the power of his words, we find the shedding of bad habits, forsaking of favorite sins, and dismissal of taunting temptations. Why? The power of God is at work - not just our willpower or 'self-help' plans.

All of God's Word 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. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Reciting it from time to time is fine but allowing it to dig into the recesses of our mind, the failures of our past, and the hurts bottled up within our heart makes for a much better use of his Word. Only then will it begin to teach us how to forsake what is wrong and embrace what is right. 

We create all kinds of ways to 'appear holy', but there is one action we can take that will actually begin to help us live holy lives. It is getting God's Word into our lives - not as recited verse alone, but as the living, breathing Word of God. Those two verses above are the ones I recall from time to time, to remind myself that God is hard at work whenever I take up his Word and ask him to bring it alive within. Just sayin!

What will you do?

We have a nest of hawks high up on one of the building ledges at work. The nest appeared last year after much work from the large birds to interweave the parts that have now held together through many a high winds, rain storm, and even monsoon or micro-burst blast. Throughout the year, we have observed the various hawks, probably some of the three that were birthed in that nest and their parents, returning to the high perches of our hospital wings. The season is upon for them to return to the nest, fluff it up for the next 'go round' of wee ones to be birthed, and then to sit atop that perch until the little ones are ready to take flight. Their flight is majestic, huge wingspan carrying them aloft in no time, able to soar high above in attentive circles of what seems like the most graceful of maneuvers. Sometimes they call out, but most of the time they just soar. 

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  (Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT)

I also have observed the hawk flying high, continually being taunted by what appeared to be a mourning dove. Obviously that hawk was meddling in something the dove didn't appreciate! The dove was dive-bombing that hawk, time after time again, but the hawk looked totally unfazed by the bird's incessant attempts to change the course the hawk had chosen. The dove was protecting something, but the hawk wasn't all that interested in whatever it was protecting. There are just times when something attempts to distract us from our purpose in life, but we choose if we will be affected by whatever it is that is attempting to distract us in that moment! 

The hawks have a purpose for choosing the vantage point high atop our building, but they also have a purpose in choosing the course of flight that they take each day. They don't avoid the opposition - they face it head on. God has a purpose for giving us the vantage point we possess in Christ.  From high atop our "perch" in his care, we will see clearly the thing that can only serve to get in our way otherwise! The hawk has focus and that helps with not being influenced by the 'taunting' of those distracting things in his path. When we determine to go to new heights in Christ, we will find ourselves in a place where we get noticed - often by the "distracting forces of life"! Our goal may not have been to be noticed, but trust me, we get noticed! Maybe not by the ones we hoped to be noticed by, though! They flight may be easy at first, but when we 'get off our perch', is it to be in constant activity, or to learn to soar? I think this 'constant activity, may be a ploy of our enemy. He wants us out of the high places with God - because he knows what we will clearly see from this vantage point! He wants us constantly at activity - not enjoying the sweetness of repose in the heights of God's care. His purpose in it all is to distract or redirect us. 

There is no greater tactic than the distraction of the "loudest" or most "annoying" thing encircling us right now. Our enemy is a lot like the dove - not really content to just sit by and hurl a few accusations our way, but rather to encircle us, attacking from many fronts, swooping in as he might, hoping one of these attacks will be the one to dislodge us from the "perch" we enjoy in Christ. 
Although loud and obnoxious, the dove failed to keep the hawk's attention for long. Soaring free, unencumbered by any cares at all - we can take flight if we will trust in the Lord.  I wonder what might happen if we'd pay less attention to the distractions and focus more on reaching new heights in Christ?  Just askin....