Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Staying dry and warm

Thursday, December 5, 2002

Matthew 7:21, 24-27
21) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

24) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them,
I will liken him to a wise man
who built his house on the rock:
25) and the rain descended, the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it did not fall,
for it was founded on the rock.
26) "But everyone who hears these sayings of mine,
and does not do them,
will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27) and the rain descended, the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it fell.
And great was its fall."

Talk is so cheap. In Ecclesiastes Solomon says, "Let your yes be yes, your no be no...God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." Above all, I don't want to make promises I can't keep. Nor do I want to pretend to be righteous when I'm not.

Of course, I do both of those things far too often. I'm an extravert, which means among other things that I think out loud. And I talk too much too much of the time. I say things that in a few minutes I wish I hadn't said.

The other day my boss, of all people, referred with agreement to the phrase, "Don't sweat the small stuff ... and everything is small stuff." I know that's more true when I get today's stuff out of the way before tomorrow comes. So I use lists, and schedules, and try to keep them contained enough so I can finish something every day. I don't want a little thing to become a big thing just because I get tired too soon.

It happens anyway. And I too often mistake the urgent for the important, so the wrong thing goes undone. I really need to use my lists less, and my prayers more. Martin Luther, echoed by Bill Hybbels, talked of being "too busy not to pray."

Not only does prayer seem to smooth the path, it also makes more clear what is truly the "will of my Father" for me, far better than any guesses I might have on my own. I want to join the other wise little pigs in their solid brick house on the rock. Let the devil huff and puff ... I'll be praying and won't hear him. And I know God's plan has to do with us living happily ever after...

Lord, you don't tell us stories that are not true. You don't speak with a forked tongue, and you don't whisper in our ears to scare us. You are the truth. I want to build my house on the rock that is you.

Devotions Archive

Staying dry and warm

Thursday, December 5, 2002