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| WATCHDOG © 20121 |
"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction." -- Deut 30:15 -- NIV
And so you ask, where in the world am I going with this. Let me share...
Yesterday, I spent the whole day reading an owner's manual for the new cell phones we just purchased. Cell phones are really a great assist in our day to day lives regarding all sorts of communication; text message to hubby and kids, email between friends and business associates; photos of grandson shared, video conference with daughters and 7 month old grandson as he matures through his infancy. Then there is of course the practical aspect, a phone to make calls with and access to the internet to do research. Most phones come with this as stock nowadays but each brand and each new operating system is a little different. Setting up the new phones so the phone is user friendly takes a bit of time.
I went to bed last night to do my nightly reading and decided to spend some time in one of my favorite Bible books, Romans. I started in chapter one..made it through chapter two. Put my head on my pillow and began my prayer. Only, my chats with God are decidedly more about self examination as I lay prone before HIM open and transparent knowing that my words and actions must be truthful. As I thanked HIM for the lovely day my day flashed in my mind and I felt as though my light was under my bed; my talent had been buried; and basically that I had indulged in a day without honoring my God, my Lord and my best friend, Holy Spirit! I did not worship them in any way! I DID spend a lot of time with my cell phone. Thus the discipline I began this article with in Romans..."...served created things rather than the Creator..." I did not justify my time, my behavior nor my lack of faithfulness to HIM. I realized that my conscience would not be assuaged until I did worship HIM.
Why Matthew 22 and the 2 commandments? Because it is the formula for a clean conscience! Loving God with our whole heart, whole soul, whole mind and whole spirit does not allow time to 'love my cell phone' with any part of that commandment. I don't mean to say that I worshiped my cell phone in the traditional sense of the word but so much time spent on it and none spent in prayer, in thanksgiving, in intercession, in petition until the 11th hour when my head hit the pillow is not a whole heart...it is not a whole mind... I was reminded that I must love others as myself and myself loves God and God completely. Yet we fall into time tunnels where we are so focused on 'things' or as the scripture aptly states 'the created things' we forget that they are not to occupy such a part of our day as to close out the CREATOR, God!
Lastly, as I processed my self examination I realized I had broken a few Godly principles... I had put my cell phone before the face of my God! I realized that while I was not induced to bow down and worship it I was also not induced to bow down and worship God! I realized that I have always before me the opportunity for life or death depending on how I behave.
Not wishing to bury my 'talent' but to take what wonderful gifts from the Holy Spirit I have been ever so blessed to possess, I am writing this article for publication. It is not only my confession for having spent so much time unfocused on the GOOD/GOD in my life but also the penance I am blessed to perform in writing something that is not only applicable to myself but perhaps for many who daily go about their business preoccupied with 'stuff' and 'things' and forget until their head hits the pillow they have not had fellowship with the Holy Spirit; have not sung praise to the Father and have not respected the Lord in our lives by forgetting where 'two or more are gathered in my name there also I am' and in this home there are always two gathered in HIS sacred name! Yesterday, I chose 'death'; today, life. Our faith is certain in the blessed blood of our Lord and Master, Jesus. Our everlasting life is promised if we believe in the sacrificial and propitiatory value of HIS spilt blood. The promises of Psalm 91 are there for us to remember by reading them often...we must first make God our rock, our fortress our secret hiding place...when we venture out on our own to spend the day with 'things' and forget that our Father in heaven is present with us always in the person of the Holy Spirit how can we honestly be so rude as not to acknowledge them.
May our Christian spirit and life not be stuck in a bushel basket under our bed but out in the open on the hill to light the city! May our understanding of the manual for man, the Bible, be the LIGHT that illuminates our foot path and the LIGHT of World, the Lord Jesus, provide brightness for all our pathways! May we honor the talent given to us, even if only a single talent, or, perhaps one with many, by using that talent for Good, for GOD! Yesterday, I hid my talent hoping not to lose it...proverbially speaking...; today, thanks to GOD I am blessed with using it to share with you, the reader, that if the words touched your heart, mind, soul or spirit that you too may find the JOY of a spiritual readjustment from the awesome heavenly massage therapist, our GOD! Remember, our Best Friend, Holy Spirit is with us always; try not to forget HE is there! I am chagrined and pray I will not soon forget the lesson of 'worshiping and serving the created things instead of the Creator'. AMEN!
In conclusion I leave this, one of my favorite scriptures: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." -- Psalm 139:23-24 -- KJV
