Locked In
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Good morning, Lord V.O.D.: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.—2 Corinthians 5:10 M.O.M.: The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.—Romans 13:12 Today's reading: Proverbs 25-26 2 Corinthians 9
Locked In
The USDA hired us to take the bulldozer and clear a perimeter inside the fence one hundred feet wide and then to cut one hundred feet wide across the middle of the 'north thousand acres', then go ninety degrees and cut another path across. All this was to chase and catch wild cattle. The brush was so thick the men had not been able to catch these research animals.
This land was on a military base and I had to sign in every morning and be led to the gate of the job and then locked in. There was a phone on the gate which I would use when each day was done so a soldier could come and let me out.
After the perimeter was cleared, I chose a point to start my first crossing. I stood on the top of my machine and looked for a tall tree that would be visible as I climbed down. I kept pushing and keeping my eye on that tree as I cut that thousand acres in half. When that was done, I went ninety degrees around the fence and did it again. I made a cross, one hundred feet wide on that place where the soldiers had not been since they left to go to World War I.
With all the old stuff I found, it would have been easy to miss my tree top point of focus. I could not take pictures and could not carry any junk home but it was as if I were in a forgotten museum all grown up with vines and trees. Still. I had to keep my focus on that tree top that was the finish point.
All the time I was at the mercy of that phone on the gate. The tractor would break down and I would drive my truck to the phone and wait until the guard would come let me out to get what was needed for repair and then go back. One day it rained and I broke down and the rain got in the phone wires and I had to wait all day until the guard made rounds at the end of the day. Six hours I waited.
On this job I had to stay focused on my mark, first one way, then the other. I was at the mercy of the archaic phone line, my truck, soldiers who followed orders from superiors.
Circumstances in this life get us locked in. We have to depend on technology which is outdated with each new discovery. We are protected by folks who answer to 'higher-ups'. We have to work and pay taxes and pay the bills. Nothing man-made ever lasts.
Where is our focus? What is the 'treetop' that stands above it all that we know leads us to the finish? Or is our focus and dependence on all the stuff man has made?
No matter what anyone or any teacher tells you, there is nothing more important than your focus on Christ Jesus. "In beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God", John 1:1. We have the Word living in our hearts and we have the written word in the Bible. Nothing will replace allowing the Living word to breathe wisdom and understanding into our souls while we read the written word. Nothing will replace prayer and meditation. Where is this focus in your priorities?
Are your priorities on the treasures at ground level? Or, do you allow your focus on your Lord to guide you on to the finish.
The great tragedy is that mankind without God breaks down and waits for someone to come and unlock the gate so they can go get parts to fix something?
Yes, we have to live and work in this world but our dependence on the final outcome should be on the divine solution.
God loves you and all your differences and problems and always has a solution and recovery. No matter what happens on the lower levels, always keep your eyes on that point-the one divine point that leads to the finish-Jesus Christ.
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven, Forgive me my worry over all this stuff. Grant me peace to find Your presence and desire to focus on You. Awesome and powerful Master! In the name of Jesus, Amen