The Plumbline

I like when we come across illustrations in scripture which help us "cement" an idea into our minds and get it worked deep into our spirits.  One such illustration is found in today's passage - comparing marriage, becoming a widow, and then remarriage to this idea of being "free" to enjoy life in a new way.  Let's break this down a little.  Laws have power over people who are alive.  In today's culture, marriage is a little more "disposable" than it was in the time Paul penned these words to the Roman church.  I think we can understand the concepts taught if we understand the time in which they were written.  Marriage was between one man and one woman - a life-long commitment to remain faithful to one another.  This is where we get this idea of "till death do us part" in our modern day marriage ceremonies.  If a marriage ended in one spouse passing away, the remaining spouse was no longer "under the obligation" of marriage ...

There is much to the belief which holds to the idea of surrounding yourself with the right people bringing you success in life.  When we choose our "circle" well, we find ourselves being influenced to move in directions which increase our "value" in some way.  Choose the wrong "circle" and we might not realize quite the same increase in "value".  Now, lest you think I believe your acquaintances actually are where you find your unique value in life, this is not what I am saying.  In fact, there is but one place we find our unique value and that is when we look fully into the face of Jesus.  It is in what we see reflected back as we fully explore the depth of his gaze that we find our supreme and unique value. Yet, our relations here on earth can either build us up, or tear us down. Those which build us up have a way of adding "value" by our association; those which tear us down actually take away "value" by our association.  T...

Who are you living for?  It is a question I think we all need to ask ourselves because we are all "living for" someone - even if it is ourselves.  Maybe we are a little too self-centered for our own good and only see life how it affects us, totally excluding how the world all around us is impacted by the way we live OUR lives.  Or perhaps we are a little to "other-centered", forgetting to take care of ourselves, running like mad-men here and there until we are fatigued to the place of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.  Then we may actually be living a "little bit" of this thing referred to as a "Christ-centered" life - the choices we make being governed by the principles taught in the Word and those we feel compelled to act upon because of the prompting of the Holy Spirit within, but lacking complete consistency in this walk.  Somehow we think the question is not how well we are living, but that we are living - missing the point of liv...