The Plumbline

Are you a planner? Do you make lists, check them twice, and then adjust the lists to make even more sense? If so, you just could be a 'planner' of sorts. There are lots of things we plan - where we will vacation, what we will have for our dinner this week, what times to pick people up each day, or even what order to do our many loads of laundry in as we sort through the piles. Planning is a good thing, especially when we are planning in ways that will make us more productive, efficient, or help us save needed money. Planning is just a way to help us order our steps toward some goal. If we see the value in planning, we might just begin to incorporate a little planning into how it is we respond to others, what we will do with our time when we are together with them, and where we will invest into their lives. Don’t those who work evil stray from the truth? Those who plan goodness experience unfailing love and faithfulness. ( Proverbs 14:22 VOICE ) Goodness is actually somet...

Back in the day, doctors used these sucking, slimy predatory worm (AKA a leech) to remove infection from the body and to hopefully improve the condition they were treating. We don't use them very often any longer, but they still have their purposes in some cultures in the treatment of disease. In the simplest terms, a leech is something or someone who "clings" to another for the personal gain that will come as a result of having made that attachment! In the blood-letting process of the past, the leech took the blood, but really "gave" very little in return - although by 'taking' they were supposedly 'giving back'. I suppose you might think they "gave" back the health to the one who used them, but really if you consider their actions, they were in it for what they could 'gain', not what they could 'give'. A leech has twin daughters named "Gimme" and "Gimme more." (Proverbs 30:15 The Message) The pr...