A Christmas gift project has turned into a rendering / encoding / geek disaster as there now lies a good chance that I will be scrambling to finish this off before time to head to the Tri-Cities in less than 2 weeks. Oh well, at least some of your favorite bands weren’t referred to as “retro.” I digress.

“So why do you call me Lord when you don’t obey me? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching and then obeys me. It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the flood waters rise and break against the house it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who listens and does not obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins.”
Luke 6:46-49

And so, the next appointment scheduled with Church Boy.

We can go to church every week, pray before every meal and before bedtime every night. We can buy food and build homes for the homeless and hungry, we can buy school supplies for children living in poverty. We can faithfully give a portion of our income to the church and its ministries, and we can love and forgive one another. We can do all these things and be as pure as we can be on the inside and out, but it will never change the fact that we all fall short of God’s glory. For what He’s given us, we’ll never be able to repay, never be able to equal or ever be able to be justifiably thankful enough. None of us are worthy, and that’s what makes His Grace so sweet and lovely.

His Grace is there for the taking, providing you accept Jesus as the savior of your life, but that doesn’t excuse us from building our strong foundation. And striving to live a Godly, Christ-like life is a huge stepping stone in building such a foundation. Finally, no matter how well you do, no matter how pure your heart, there is always something you’re not doing. Not a reason to be down on yourself, but a great reason to attack whatever it is that isn’t allowing you do fix those holes in your life. My assignment today was to address 1 way I’m obeying His word, and 1 way I’m not.

On the high, positive note, in the last year I have made a hugely conscious effort to eliminate negative worldly influence in my life, such as putting material things on pedestals, highly prioritizing “security” and finances and the attainment of “stuff.” I have a lot of “stuff” and there’s nothing wrong with having “stuff.” The problem comes, however, when it becomes more than just “stuff” to you. I can’t honestly say I’m immune from this, as I am not. I severely idolize Facebook and my computer in general, often putting my quiet time with God off until after I’ve checked my wall or e-mail. I considered it a huge victory, however, when I decided that no matter what my family told me, I was not going to let money be my God. Money is great and all, but in reality, it isn’t that important. I’d miss it if it were gone, I know I would, but I’ve finally realized what it’s capable of and what it can do to the human mind. Money just buys stuff and stuff only goes away over time.

Now, the hard part. Something I am not obeying is the call to share the Good News with those I love. I missed a golden opportunity this past week while traveling with my parents to the football game in Nashville. I wanted to, and in fact, planned to, but I didn’t. I stayed quiet about my spiritual life. In reference to witnessing to others, I’ve been told that there’s really no “right” way to do it (though I know of a few “wrong” ways…), and that you don’t have to be a bible scholar in order to share the Good News. I’m confident that I know enough about it and can draw enough illustrations from my life in the last year to make an effective argument favoring the Holy Spirit in my life and how it can help those who are desperately in need of it. But I still hold back, fearing I’m not going to do it right. It may be due to the “friends” I have who automatically plug their ears when I’ve talked about Jesus in the past, and I simply feel that me doing so won’t make a difference, as you can’t unplug the ears of those who won’t do it themselves, but I realize there’s no excuse for staying quiet, and there’s no heaven for those who don’t know about it.

I’ll have another chance over the Christmas holiday. I guess we’ll see if I choke again or if I can find my voice. Geez, now I’m depressed.

Enjoy today’s haiku:

The snow flurries down
Beautiful, graceful and white
May die tomorrow