Girl Scouts are busy out there selling cookies right now. We all know this is an annual fund-raiser for the Girl Scouts. And we all know how good these cookies are. I’m looking at a half-eaten box of Thin Mints (my favorite) as I write this. How can anything that tastes so delicious have all those unsavory ingredients that are listed on the label? Such things as thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, and cocoa processed with alkali! Yuck! There’s got to be a lesson in that somewhere.
Perhaps we learn that for anything to be really “good” it must also have some elements that aren’t so good. Like marriage, for example. For there to be a really good marriage, there must be a testing time that brings out the worst in each partner so it can be dealt with so only the good remains. That takes a process of time and involves some yucky stuff, but, boy, is it worth it in the end! Hang in there; it gets better.
Tags: cookies, Girl Scouts, good, marriage
Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”.
These are three interesting requirements. 1) We are to do justly. Justice is what is deserved. Justice honors the Law. If I deserve it, I can demand it. It is owed to me. I am to live my life sowing seeds because I can expect to reap what I sow.
2) We are also required to love mercy. Mercy is the opposite of justice. Mercy is when I get what I don’t deserve. Mercy is when I find grace because I deserved justice. I am to do justly, while I am to love mercy. How do we reconcile these two opposite concepts?
3) We are to walk humbly with our God. To walk humbly is to recognize that we are nothing in ourselves. It is to remain open as vessels that God can use in any manner He chooses. I am to act justly, while demonstrating mercy to others, so I can be a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things the Lord requires of us.
Tags: humility, justice, mercy, Micah 6:8, requirements
What was the number one best thing that happened in your life in 2008?
I think, for me, there were three really good things that happened last year. First, my father went through a lengthy period of decline that drew me closer to him than I can ever remember being. My respect for him grew tremendously.
Secondly, having to deal with prostate cancer forced me to deal with my own mortality and to rethink the priorities in my life, including the value I attribute to my relationship with my wife.
And thirdly, I stepped aside from some managerial roles in the office by transferring many administrative responsibilities to Pastor Randy Stine. We can both function within the giftings God has given us, and I now have time to develop sermon direction farther ahead and give more attention to my own personal development.
Each of these three changes were not easy, came with suffering, and will bear fruit in the future. And two of three good things came uninvited. I believe God has a plan to transform me into the image of his Son, Jesus.
What was the number one best thing that happened to you in 2008?
Tags: New Year, trouble