1 john 1:3 - proclaiming what we've seen, what we've heard, so that you might have fellowship with us, and with the Father and the Son
About Me
- Name: Rick
- Location: Cayce, SC
husband. father. coffee-drinker. reader. writer. music listener. iphone 4 user. mini cooper driver. social media goofball.
08.2002
09.2002
10.2002
11.2002
12.2002
01.2003
02.2003
03.2003
04.2003
05.2003
06.2003
07.2003
08.2003
09.2003
10.2003
11.2003
12.2003
01.2004
02.2004
03.2004
04.2004
05.2004
06.2004
07.2004
08.2004
Monday, January 12, 2004
Look After One Another
Hermas
Listen to me now: stand together in peace. Look after one another, and show concern for another's needs. By eating too much, some of you have brought sickness on your bodies and ruined them, while the limbs of others, who have nothing to eat, waste away for lack of food. And you who have become old in spirit: you are already dying. Your soft living and constant doubts have brought you to this point. You are enervated by the affairs of daily life; you have fallen into lethargy; you are like old men who have given up hope of regaining strength and expect nothing but to fall asleep. But don't give up hope. Awake and repent, and you will all be quite new again.
[from the Daily Dig, 01/12/2004, http://bruderhof.com/us/Subscribe.htm?source=DailyDig]
====
Ouch. Yes, I'm a big guy, and I've eaten my share, so the physical challenge is very real. But that next line, that we who've been in the faith for a long while have fallen into a trap of "soft living and constant doubts", paying closer attention to the "affairs of daily life". There is such a hope in this: "Awake and repent, and you will all be quite new again."
Who doesn't want new strength? new vision? new mercies every morning? Who doesn't want to throw away the old mindsets? the old worthless things? No matter how comfortable, the worthless things won't get us any closer to the goal of Christ formed in us. "Awake and repent" - we need to wake up and smell the coffee, repent and enjoy the newness that we've left behind.
How do I know this is speaking to me? I've asked myself: what determines the course of my days? And I answer: my daytimer, my kids' school schedules, basketball practice, tumbling class, bedtime routines, morning routines, half-hour commutes, etc etc etc. In the midst of all that, I look for time with God, and He's always there, much more faithful than me. But what if I lived there, in the kingdom, more constantly in His presence, and then tried to find time for this day's schedule from withing my time with Him - instead of the other way around?
