The Plumbline

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. (Proverbs 20:20) What are your pursuits? We each have something we are particularly interested in, like a hobby, career path, or even a favorite thing to watch on TV. I don't particularly have a passion for the news, but I like to be informed. It is not a pursuits for me, just an interest from time to time. I can even go days without watching any. Miss one day in the Word of God and I feel a bit deflated, without energy, and even a bit disoriented in my activities. Why? It is a lifeline for me! How about you? Pursue righteousness and unfailing love. We might say this is a call to pursue Jesus as he personified right living for us and he definitely showed all of us his unfailing love. In pursuing Jesus, we find life, right standing with God the Father, and we receive a tremendous place of honor - a child of God. What more could we hope to gain in any pursuit in life?  Pursuit is intentional. I...

Life is a journey. When we stop, things don't go right. (Pope Francis) So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. (Colossians 3:1-2) Act like it - a behavior change is required, is it not? When we embrace this life in Christ, there is to be evidence of having a life change. How is this change manifest? We embrace or pursue the things that were once foreign to us. In other words, we stop being so absorbed with the things of this world and we ask God for a change of focus. We want to be open to the things God is doing, but there are times we are so absorbed in the things going on around us in this world, we forget to get his perspective. All of this life with Christ is really defined by one w...

Of all possessions, a friend is most precious. (Herodotus) Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah! (Romans 5:9-11) I would say I am blessed to have a 'best friend', but throughout the years, I have been blessed to have many friends. Some stick closer than others, don't they? You are most fortunate if there is always at least one who is 'just there' through thick and thin. There is one friendship we can never neglect - that which ...