Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Where Are You?

Sean gave me an Amazon.com gift certificate for Christmas and I've been looking at various things and combinations of things ever since. I need a new pair of shoes, so I looked at a few of those. Then I thought it might be time to get a new baseball cap, so I looked at a few of those. Then I saw it.

A watch that knows how far you have gone and how fast you did it. What a gadget for a geek! It accesses the 26 Geosynchronous Positioning Satellites and calculates the differences between where you were and where you end up to do that.

Way Cool! And it tells time!

I could of course just go by the Steven Wright method - "No matter where you go, there you are" , but I really like to know my location. Not just on the planet, but with God.

The very first question asked in the Bible is God's query after Adam and Eve had sinned. "Adam, where are you?" Adam doesn't answer. He hides from God. Later, Moses is asked the same question. He responds to God, "Here I am." That's where we need to be. Available. Open. Ready to work for God's glory.

It's the first week of our New Year. When the Jewish New Year begins, the observant Jew takes some time to examine his life to see just where he or she is with God. It's a process of discovery like that which Paul noted in his letter to the Corinthians. "Examine yourself..." the apostle said.

Let me share some action steps you can take.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Philippians 4:8 The Message

We're usually quick to think of those things we need to cut out of our lives during our spiritual examinations. But what if we replaced those habits that take us away from God and off track with new habits that drew us closer?

What if we replaced the ordinary with the transcendent, the vulgar with beauty and grace? What if we got rid of those things that clutter our lives and replaced them with things that matter - things that will last?

I think Paul's onto something friends.

Where are you?
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

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