The Plumbline

Put  God  in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place. (Proverbs 16:3) Have you ever wondered why some things you have planned to do just don't go as planned? You work and rework those plans, trying hard to think of every inevitability, then 'bam', something doesn't go as planned and the whole plan has to be rework - or worse, abandoned entirely. I am an amateur woodworker (emphasis on amateur), abandoning more than just a few 'misguided' projects. They started out well, but that old adage of measure twice, cut once didn't get followed and the 'object' of my plans didn't quite work out. Life is more than a 'measure twice, cut once' kind of deal. It is a seek God repeatedly, let him refine your plans, and don't move until he does kind of deal! Put God in charge of your work. That doesn't mean we just throw our plans out there and 'tell' God how to make them work out as we planned. It means we submit eac...

A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (Matthew 7:17-20) We all have a purpose in life. According to scripture, our lives are supposed to bear fruit - something is to be "reproduced" from each of our lives. From the moment God told Adam and Eve to be "fruitful and multiply" mankind has been focused on "bearing fruit" - more than just physical offspring, but fruit of all kinds. With the labor of his hands, mankind brought forth crops and harvests beyond measure. With the investment of his time and talent, mankind ensured the mentoring of the next generation. Mankind is continually bearing fruit of one kind or another. It probably goes without saying some fruit is not exa...