The Plumbline

If you have ever had a broken tooth, an abscess, or a truly miserable toothache, you know how miserable that one tiny tooth can make your entire body!  It gets to throbbing, and the nerve pain just doesn't seem to let up. The tiny tooth begins to affect how you think, respond, and even what you will allow into your body.  You begin to chew on one side, eat softer foods, avoid hot or cold, or even avoid eating all together.  One tooth - so much influence! In most circumstances, you bite into something and never expect to experience any discomfort at all.  You place your confidence in your teeth working as they should - especially when you are hungry and want a good meal!  What if all of a sudden, without warning, one tooth became unreliable? Not only would you be caught off-guard by it, but you might even feel a little cheated because you were counting on those teeth being there to aid you in your time of hunger! Putting confidence in an unreliable person in...

Indifference is all around us.  I am a people watcher, so maybe I pick up on this a little more than someone who isn't.  Whether it is the casual disregard for someone's property exhibited when someone just drops their unwanted trash by the wayside without a care in the world, or the passing by of a motorist broken down on the side of the freeway - lack of concern and compassion is just part of what we see everyday.  Indifference is also the producing of "work" which only requires mediocre effort.  Anytime we don't give our "all" to a project, we can be guilty of being a little indifferent to the outcome, as well.  In this world, Christ called for his people to make a difference - to stand out, to be counted, and to be agents of change.  If you haven't guessed it by now, we have a hard job ahead of us! Patient persistence pierces through indifference;   gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.  (Proverbs 25:15 MSG) Patient persistence is...