You awake?
That’s what the text read at 11:00 one night last week. My son-in-law, Curtis.
Yes, I replied, and soon the phone was vibrating.
What do your kids or in-laws or whoever call you about at 11:00 pm? This one got interesting very quickly.
“Hey man, I was sharing this with Cassie about this and she said I should call you.”
Cassie also said later I should blog about it. So there. You’re welcome.
“This” was an insight into something that dates all the way back to Eden. It’s been rocking my world ever since. The implications of this idea are poignant and tragic, yet dripping with possibilities. [click to continue…]
“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose…” (Proverbs 16:4).
That includes you and me.
More than just a living “who” or “what,” we’re all rooted in the rich, fertile soil of “why.” [click to continue…]
Uh oh…
Somebody lost touch with their “Y.”
When you lose your “Y” something else seems missing, too.
Somebody offers a solution: “What’s missing is a B!”
So your J-O-Y becomes a J-O-B. [click to continue…]
(And You Can and Should, Too)
Travel with me to an ancient version of Death Row. A lonely old man sits in isolation – a rare occurrence for a life so well-traveled and surrounded with people. And he awaits his fate.
He’s a dead man walking.
Yet even though his body is scarred and his bones crooked from a hardened life, he doesn’t have the same despair or desperation that’s typical of someone living under a death sentence. In fact, he has – dare I say it? – a sense of satisfaction. Fulfillment. Maybe even a touch of pride.
How do I know? His own words.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Those words from Paul have carried a new fascination for me recently. Here was a man who know what his life was about, and lived it. He followed the course laid out for him, and he finished it.
Put in other language, Paul had a vision, and throughout his life he stubbornly, doggedly, faithfully pursued that vision. Doing so was costly in the short run. He was routinely run out of town, beaten to a pulp, deserted by his friends, and bedeviled by danger. But to him it was a price worth paying, to get to the end of his life with two things: [click to continue…]
…for we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
You and I are flex-fueled vehicles.
We are equipped to move forward,
powered either by confidence in the living God
or by what makes sense to us logically, emotionally, or sensually at the time.
There is a difference… A massive difference.
What’s in your tank?
Here’s how you can know… [click to continue…]
Behold a sower went forth again to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the well-worn path. Knowing the vulnerability of the seed to the birds, the sower broke the hardened ground to enable the seed to grow. The birds came to search for food and found nothing there.
Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil. Knowing the vulnerability of the plant to the scorching sun, the sower dug out the rocks to deepen the roots. The seeds sprang up, but only when the roots went down. And when the sun had risen, the deep roots nourished the plant with life and strength.
Others fell among the thorns. Knowing the vulnerability of the plant to be choked and fruitless because of the thorns, the sower diligently weeded the field.
And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. Knowing the potential of the seed to multiply, the sower ruthlessly pruned the plant to make it even more fruitful.
He who has ears, let him hear. [click to continue…]
In the world of archery, comfortable bows never launch arrows.
Until the bow is stretched to near-breaking, the arrow never fulfills its purpose or reaches its target.
I fear that our craving for comfort may be slowly killing us all because we’ve redefined the term. [click to continue…]
Imagine your life as various points on the highway. Fast Lane, Slow Lane, Shoulder, Ditch.
And at any given time, in any given area, you can be in one of those four.
Living in the Fast Lane means you’re getting where you’re going. You’re fulfilling your purpose.
In the Slow Lane you have a lot of movement, but you never quite seem to get there, wherever “there” is.
On the Shoulder, your “engine” is running, but you’re not moving ahead at all.
In the Ditch means you’ve crashed or are stuck, and without help you aren’t going anywhere.
Having punched my card in all four locations, I can tell you we’re all a mixed bag. You can be idling on the shoulder in one area, cruising in another, and crashed out in a third. So let’s break it down a little more. [click to continue…]
A Colorado highway director went out to see firsthand the aftermath of a sudden blizzard that struck just at the start of a holiday weekend.
Some vehicles had slid off the road into a ditch or snow bank. Without help they were powerless to move.
Other cars were on the shoulder. Their engines were still running for the time being, but they were not moving forward at all.
Some cars were in the slow lane, cautiously moving forward, but at a pace that made timely arrival at their destination virtually impossible.
Still other vehicles were equipped to drive in the fast lane – some going steadily, some quickly, some dangerously fast, but all headed for their destination.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
+++++++
Hear now the parable of the Highway Director. [click to continue…]
I wasn’t going to do it this year.
I was tired. Really tired.
Frankly a little lost.
In a year filled with sorrows, disappointments, and a little health scare of my own, I had about decided to forego the attempt to frame this year around a central theme – my one word. (You can read more about the idea as a substitute for New Year’s resolutions here.)
Previous years saw themes emerge such as Lean, One, Advance!, and Renew.
Cynical candidates for this year included such cheery themes as Coast, Surrender, or Vegetate. Nothing else really seemed to resonate, so I had decided, despite a couple of really good suggestions from my daughter, to pass this year. That’s when I decided to take a walk yesterday.
And about the same time the Holy Spirit seemed to whisper, “Yes. Walk.” [click to continue…]