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There were four of us on this hike when we got somewhat lost. And I was reminded again how good it is to almost get lost. It reminds you of the danger. It keeps you humble and protects you from being overconfident in yourself. It sharpens your senses and your defenses. It is the same in life. To almost be trapped, reminds us of the danger. To almost fall, humbles us before God who knows all and protects us from ourselves -- who barely know anything. To almost go the wrong way, makes us alert to our enemies and builds our confidences in Christ's saving power. Thank you, God, for allowing us to almost get lost and please bring us back from the brink more surrendered to You and at rest with You. Amen.  Getting lost on a hike is one thing -- normally it is tiresome and annoying to realize you misread the map. Getting lost in life is not as simple. If you even glanced at the directions, on the trail it is generally obvious after a few miles: YOU ARE LOST. But in life, we can live in denial for a lifetime, because some of us never look at the directions. Some of us reject the directions. And some us look at the directions and demand to read God's word the way we want to. Or in other words we refuse to believe we could be reading God's word incorrectly. But if hiking will teach you anything it is this: it does not matter how accurate the map is -- if it is interpreted inaccurately.  We were out hiking. It was supposed to be a nice, simple 2-mile loop or so I thought. Only when we had gone two miles the path continued...and it was going the wrong way. Now we weren't lost exactly -- we knew where we were and it was the wrong place. Often in life it is the same -- we aren't lost. We know exactly where we are, but we don't want to be there (and don't know how to get where we want to be). The trick is let God direct us to where He wants us to be. I thought I was following the map. But if I had obeyed the map correctly, we would have been where we wanted to be. In life, if we will obey God's word correctly -- we will not always be where we want, but we will be where God wants us to be.   This week I found out that there are ornamental strawberries. There are actually strawberry plants designed to merely look pretty and never produce berries. Now I knew about ornamental cherries and plums...who knew we had gone to the trouble of creating a strawberry plant that looks good but can't do its job.
I don't deny the blooms are lovely -- but the purpose of a strawberry (or a cherry or a plum for that matter) is to make fruit. Our purpose as Christians is to produce fruit. If we are Christ's we are never merely ornamental. It doesn't matter how nice we or sound -- or how much people like you -- our purpose is to live like Christ. |
The AuthorCome with me as we grow in fellowship with each other and our Savior to whom belongs the Amazing Escape from sin and death and the Amazing Journey into glorious life. Archives
January 2025
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