The Plumbline

Lord, your rules are wonderful.   That is why I follow them.  As people understand your word, it brings light to their lives.  Your word makes even simple people wise.  My desire to hear your commands is so strong   that I wait with open mouth, gasping for breath. (Psalm 119:129-131 ERV) How do you "find out" things in life? Are you an inquisitive individual who searches out truth and seeks to understand the meaning of things, or perhaps how things "work"? I have two grandsons - one very mechanical and inventive, the other very artistic and creative. Each sees things just a little differently, but also kind of similarly. They have a way of picturing things and then creating them - especially my oldest one. We wanted a stand for our fishing poles and he had an small folding table (the type you use in bed) with a broken top. The legs were made of heavy duty metal tubing/wire. You guessed it - he took it apart, began sawing the pieces and bending into a top and...

Do good wherever you go.  After a while, the good you do will come back to you.   (Ecclesiastes 11:1 ERV) From the time I was a kid, I have heard the "golden rule" preached in many different forms, but as many times as it has been "preached" or "taught", it doesn't really "ring true" until I see it demonstrated in the life of another. I think this is how Jesus taught - he showed his love - he didn't just talk about it. He could have said his love was never ending, but until Peter realized his repeated and consistent mess ups didn't affect how much Jesus loved him, he really didn't understand the "rule". He could have smitten each every one of those who spat upon him, beat him, or even shot words of ridicule his way as he went to the cross, but he chose to forgive them, modeling for us how monumentally huge his love is for us. The "rule" is caught more than it is taught! Looking again at our passage, notic...

Some people refuse to bend when someone corrects them. Eventually they will break, and there will be no one to repair the damage.   (Proverbs 29:1 ERV) "You get tragedy where the tree, instead of bending, breaks."  (Ludwig Wittgenstein) We come across those from time to time who are just "un-bendable". They refuse any advice to do something a different way, determining their way is best of all, despite their lack of progress or inefficiencies. When we face these individuals, what is our reaction to their determination to "not bend"? It may be that we dig in our heels a little bit harder and try to make the point a little louder or with more determination ourselves. It could also be that we shake our heads, turn away, and just leave them to their own self-directed course. Either way, we do little to influence their unyielding determination. What they may ultimately require is the touch of God's hand in their lives, bringing such a "storm"...