Do You Agree?

I doubt many people take the time to carefully read each part of the terms and conditions associated with using software. I admit I have never really read each sentence to make sure I am in agreement with the user license. In my eagerness to use the program/app, I just click the "accept" button and move on. It's a good thing these companies are (mostly) ethical or we would all be in trouble.

Isn't it interesting how quickly we will acquiesce to the conditions provided to us when we are just focused on getting what we want out of it? I'm assuming there won't be any hidden clauses or tricks and am very quick to offer my acceptances. Why is it we can do that for our technology, but rebel against that same principle when dealing with our spirituality? It's almost as if we expect God to sneak in some clause we never predicted and won't want to follow. Instead of stepping forward in faith to follow His better path we hedge our bets in case something we don't like comes to light.

We probably should place a little less trust in self-serving, capitalistic entities and a little more in a selfless, caring deity who has proven His reliability.

Getting Credit

This year in the NBA has been enjoyable to watch for many reasons, but especially for the potentially record-setting season of the Golden State Warriors. As a team, they have improved tremendously even after winning the title last year. It’s been fun to watch and I would love to see them go all the way again and make history.

Their head coach (in his second season leading the team) is Steve Kerr. Due to a complication from back surgery, Steve had to miss the first half of the season and his associate coach, Luke Walton led the team. While Luke was coaching, the team set a record for the best start to a season and were 39-4 before Steve returned to coach. In an interesting twist to NBA rules however, these wins and losses don’t go to Luke’s coaching record, but to Steve Kerr’s. Even though he did an excellent job of leading the team he doesn’t receive official credit for the victories.

Genuinely great leaders aren’t focused on getting credit, but on team success. They recognize the need to build for the long term without focusing on padding their own resume. Maintaining a humble attitude will eventually lead to rewards even if that isn’t the overall goal. This is the kind of leader people want to follow and work hard for.

Magic Telescope

As silly as it sounds, (and since I have daughters with incredible imaginations and goofiness galore I feel that I am an expert on silly) I often find myself wishing that I had a device that would let me look into the future and then take me to it even quicker. I wish that I had something that would allow me to see how the decisions that I make today will affect my family in the near and distant future. I would love to be able to see how difficult things are going to work out (or not work out) to relieve anxiety. Who wouldn't love to have the ability to see the exact results of what they are doing now or where they will be in five years and be able to jump right to those improvements?

Instead I am faced with the daily choice of trusting God and putting my faith in His providence. I am learning to be content with knowing that if I desire to change my position and my character that I must make a choice to be that person. Nothing will be handed to me without my contributing effort and faithful perseverance. I must envision the man that I want to be at the end of this year and then choose each day to be that man. If I want to be a more faithful follower of Christ then I will pray, read, and serve like a more faithful follower. If my desire is to be a better husband and father then I will start today to speak the words, meditate on the thoughts, and form the habits of that man. When I feel that God is leading me to be a stronger and more positive leader, I will begin to act today as if that is already the true nature of who I am.

In actuality, my confidence in God's vision for my life and my disciplined obedience in seeing it fulfilled is a magic telescope of its own. It won't bring any shortcuts to my future, but in choosing to actively follow Christ each day I can be confident that I will arrive at the destination that God has set out before me.

Comparison Shopping

When we make an inexpensive, impulse buy at a store we make a quick judgment in our mind that it isn't a big deal because the item was cheap and easy to purchase. If we were going to buy a flat screen TV however, we would probably search for the best possible deal, make sure that it had all of the features that we need, and even then may choose not to purchase it. We are putting into practice the principle of assigning value.

At some point in our lives we put a value on spiritual things. We will have to determine whether we want to stay in a small comfort zone or step into the wild journey of following Christ. A decision will have to made about our lifestyle and maintaining it as it is, or whether we will exchange it for God's way of life. We will have to choose either the pleasures of God's Kingdom or the pleasures of sin.

We make these decisions as we determine the cost of declaring allegiance to the King. It is a continual, daily process of assigning value that requires us to actively choose who we will follow.

I Have Decided

I was listening to music from my friends at Salty Church in Ormond Beach this morning and they sang the words to the old hymn, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. The truth contained in those lyrics is timeless and brought me to contemplate what it really means to live those words out.

Following is more than saying a prayer or being baptized-it is a commitment to letting Christ lead you throughout the rest of your life. It is a journey that is started by being willing to leave everything else behind-job, social status, friends, addictions, sin, life goals, family history, selfishness and more. Choosing to follow means that you stick with it even when it's tough-when you have relationship difficulties, when your reputation is being damaged, when your emotions are telling you something that is contradictory to what God is telling you, when you are unsure of what is next and how to move on. It is a matter of trusting in the One who is leading. It is putting our confidence in His ability to take us where we need to go and having faith that His way is the best way.

When we decide to follow Jesus it is more than a statement made with our voices. It is a declaration of allegiance to the King and His guidance and plan. It must infiltrate all of our decisions, passions, attitudes and talents if it is going to be an accurate representation of our heart's intent. This level of faith isn't attained overnight, but is a journey of discovery and endurance that is traveled by keeping our eyes focused on the One who leads us.

"Christian faith is not so much what you say you believe, 

but how you behave in a consistent manner." A.W. Tozer