Is that okay?

My father in love is a precise builder. He's a great man, a true believer in Christ, and a model for me. I thank God for him often, and he's a big supporter of my work for God, and for me. Our relationship has grown much deeper over the years.

When I was placed into that wonderful family through marriage, one of the main objects on my agenda was to make sure he felt his daughter had chosen well. So I tried to hang around and help him as he built things. Did I mention he's a precise builder? The old "measure twice, cut once" really applies here, and in those early days, he started me out by allowing me the honor of holding the end of the measuring tape.

Not the one that has the numbers that count - I'm talking about the bare metal end.

Yep, the one that most of the time no one needs to hold.

I can remember hoping that one day he'd trust me enough to measure for him, or even actually cut the wood we were working with. But until that day I'd hold the end of the ruler, as well as I possibly could.

Sometimes I'd even ask him, "is that okay?"

My goal was to please him, and for him to place his trust in my work. (And eventually, he did)

Some of you have noticed that I haven't been writing as often lately. There have been some physical reasons - PC troubles galore, tiredness, even a little illness on my end. But mostly it's been because I really feel the need to listen far more than speak right now.

My core belief is that God loves me so much that He hasn't just overlooked my sins and shortcomings, but He has paid a terrible price for them. Having done that, He hasn't set me adrift and said "okay, now live better!" Instead, He's stayed close, keeping an intimate connection with me through His Word, His Spirit, and the events around me. And out of deep gratitude and love for Him and what He's done for me, I am to live my life to please Him.

It's so easy to just live mindlessly, never really stepping back and asking yourself - "Am I pleasing God?"

You get up and head out for work, for school, or an appointment. You are around people all day, speaking with them about shared interests, work issues, overdue library fees, doctors bills or whatever. Your words, your actions, your attitudes speak to them about who you are, about what you value, about what you believe in.

Was it pleasing to God?

Here I'm not talking about "being a good person", "treating others like I want to be treated", "trying to live a good life", or any of those things we say when we are walking around the edges of a God honoring life. One man that did that to the max was Paul. Here's what he said about that kind of living.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. Philippians 3:10

See friends, at the end of the day, everything outside of being right with God and living the Life is second class stuff. Don't you want to go all the way with Christ?

I'm sure some of you do. I know I do.

And sometimes I just have to step back from the work and ask Him - "Is that okay?"

Grace!

David Wilson

This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.