The Plumbline

How little do they see what really is, who frame their hasty judgment upon that which seems.  (Daniel Webster) Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. When your faith is proven to be pure, the result will be praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ comes. You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You can’t see him now, but you believe in him. You are filled with a wonderful and heavenly joy that cannot be explained. Your faith has a goal, and you are reaching that goal—your salvation. (I Peter 1:7-9) Your faith has a goal - one you may not fully understand, but one you will 'grow into' as you spend time with Jesus. We don't see what we will become, but God has ordained (purposed ahead of time) for all that we will do, experience, and become in Christ Jesus. Faith must be proven - probably something you didn't want to hear, right? Without the 'proving' of our faith, it is kind of mushy, wishy-washy, and 'limp'. We need a 

I have seen lovely homes with a nicely landscaped front yard, beautifully framing the home with color and style. Then, to my dismay, observed the backyard to be a mess of dirt, weeds, and nothing too impressive at all. Why is it we "put our best foot forward" with what people see first, but neglect to ever do anything with the thing we see the most in our lives? The front yard is for the public - the backyard is for our use, is it not? The "backyard" will be seen most often in our lives, by us and those closest to us, yet it can be the most neglected part of our lives! The perceptive find wisdom in their own front yard; fools look for it everywhere but right here. (Proverbs 17:24) I know our passage only speaks to the "front yard" of the perceptive (the wise), but I think there is much to be said about what is the "backyard" of a person's life! What we allow, or choose to ignore, in our "backyard" is often more important than w