The Plumbline

It was Dr. Seuss who said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." We pretty much like how things begin, but we often feel let down when they end. I know that is the way I approach vacation times - happy that the day has arrived to embark on my adventure; then the final day comes and I must begin the journey back to "normal". Some projects begin the same way - with great gusto and good cheer; then end with a few bumps and bruises, tired muscles, and a sense of a little let down to be completing it. I wonder if we approach some of the moments in our lives with Christ in much this same manner - seeing a closed door behind us as something to mourn rather than to smile about 'because it happened". There will be bumps and bruises along the way sometimes, but remember...we grow by falling and getting up again! Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should. (Psalm 90:12 TLB) Our days ar...

The French novelist Anatole France reminds us: "If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." We can certainly gussy up foolish thought and word as much as we want to, but in the end, it is still going to bring us into foolish behavior at some point! My best friend and I were eating at Bubba Gump's once while in Florida. I broke into my impersonation of Forrest Gump's conversations with Sargent Dan and before long, we were both cracking up about things. We had a moment of frivolity all because of a little foolishness on my part. While that didn't hurt anyone, nor did it send us down some terrible pathway in our lives, to use that same foolishness in a meeting of the Board members of our organization would likely be less than appropriate! Sometimes even the "good things" we engage in are a little inappropriate or "foolish" at other times. The most awesome part of the Forrest Gump movie is those "teachable moments...

If you have ever been around someone who is struggling to do something, or get through something, and you just offer them one piece of advice to make it easier or quicker, you might have been surprised to receive less than a welcoming and warm response to your "advice".  You know what I mean - when they looked you in the eye, expression of disgust on their face suggesting that you must be daft to even suggest such a thing.  Some people just cannot see any other solution to their issue than what they can manage to come up with in their own minds or power.  To suggest something outside of that imagined solution makes you the "crazy one" in the equation! Some people like to do things their own way, and they get upset when people give them advice. Fools don’t want to learn from others. They only want to tell their own ideas. (Proverbs 18:1-2 ERV) There is a lot of danger in being so determined to just do things our own way, though.  In many circumstances, the way we de...

11  Teach me your ways, O L ord , that I may live according to your truth!    Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.   12  With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.  I will give glory to your name forever,  13  for your love for me is very great.       You have rescued me from the depths of death. (Psalm 86:11-12) David's plea for a teachable (trainable) heart is followed by the cry for God to "grant him" the purity of heart so that he may live as God desires - in a manner that honors God.  We don't use the term "grant me" very much any more, but it was common when David penned these words.  It means to be "awarded".  It carries the idea of carefully weighing the evidence and then giving what is desired to the one requesting it. David is certain that the desire to honor God with his entire life is what he will present to God - in turn, he is confident that God w...

Train me,  God , to walk straight;       then I'll follow your true path.    Put me together, one heart and mind;       then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear. (Psalm 86:11-12) The teach-ability of one's heart is in direct comparison to the openness of one's mind.  Our actions begin in our mind - learning to perform new actions is made easiest when our minds are opening to considering the possibilities of those actions!  David's prayer reveals the secret of teach-ability:  God putting us together - making one heart and mind out of the "muddle" of the divided attention and direction of these two parts of our being. This is the prayer of a teachable heart - put me together!  David begins with "teach me" and "show me how to do this".  He concludes with the idea that he's not as "all together" as he'd like to portray to the world.  One of the signs of a truly teachable ...

Train me,   God , to walk straight;         then I'll follow your true path.      Put me together, one heart and mind;         then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear.   (Psalm 86:11-12) It is a hard thing for us to learn that every sin, every compromise, has some type of fruit that results from those decisions.  Every time we sin, we miss out on some portion of what God originally intended for us.  When we compromise, we are allowing the "wholeness" of our being to be compromised, as well.  It is in obedience that we experience the greatest degree of "wholeness". The prayer reflected in our passage today is one of a "teachable" heart.  David often prayed this prayer.  He wanted nothing more than to have - really walk in - a teachable frame of mind, spirit, and will.  Here are just a few of the words of a teachable heart: Protect me - whenever we see David uttering these words, he is us...