The Plumbline

If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.  (Thomas Aquinas) But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. (James 1:22-25 NLT) It is easy to listen to God's word, while it is a bit harder to actually get up and do what it says. As Aquinas said, we have to actually 'leave port' if we are to get anywhere. Too many times, we hear God's word, then go off without giving it any thought. His word isn't meant to just tickle our ears. It is meant to change our hearts. It is good to 'read' his word, but when we actually begin to 'meditate' ...

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT) Wherever your treasure is... There are things we define as a 'treasure' in our lives doesn't always deserve as much attention as we are giving it. We focus way too much energy, give lots more time than needed, and even come to honor that thing more than we do our relationship with God and others. Most of the time, treasures are those things that we come to value more than we do God. To that end, we are reminded that the only thing that deserves that much of our attention is God himself. Wealth, riches, valuables - all are good and are not 'sinful' as long as we maintain a right perspective toward those things. These things can be the result of G...