Water Hoses

Have you ever thought about the water hose on the outside of your house? I mean, have you ever thought about how your water hose says something about whom you are and how you act? The thought occurred to me this morning. I finished my morning devotion and got ready for work. When I walked outside I asked the Lord to show me something; to reveal something deep. And He said – “water hoses.” I know God has a sense of humor (He made me after all) but this took the cake - with the candles still lit.

I wasted no time in walking to the side of my house and took a peek. Yep, just as I left it. But then I found myself looking at the neighbors’ water hoses. And boy was it clear. Not everyone treats their water hose the same way. Some of them are like mine – they are carefully wrapped, each layer is like the layer behind it; not too tight and not too loose, evenly spaced and with the sprayer never touching the ground. Then there are others; knotted in a big mess, small loops and big loops, lying on the ground, sprayer on the sidewalk with tire tracks on it. Some are not even screwed into the hose bib and the hose is thrown behind the bushes. Wow, no respect for the hose!

Well guess what? I’ve been inside of some of those houses and the houses are mirror images of the water hoses! Now, our house is typically in order, well placed, clean and orderly. There’s a bedtime routine around here that involves, “picking up.” We can’t even go to bed without a clean slate. And our water hose proves it. But God’s point here was obviously not about the physical, but rather, the spiritual. When people see us from the outside, they get a decent picture of how we are on the inside. Sure, we can mask certain things, but people know. In manufacturing, we look at trends. Spikes are relatively meaningless in the big picture. To really know what is going on you need to look at trends.

If you find that you are presenting yourself to the world with the things described in Colossians 3:5-10 then your hose is a mess. And your neighbors will see it; day after day. But if you are showing others around you a trend of Galatians 5:22-23 then you can bet that your hose is secure, off of the ground and in order. Remember, your water hose is kept outside for the world to see. It says a lot about you. And so does the trend of your behavior. Get out of the way and let the Spirit work godly trends in you. Be an example of Christ to the world. It needs to see Him in a bad way!

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” --- Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

Too Big

Ancient literature speaks of a discussion between two men. The first man does not believe in God but tells the second man (who does), “If you will show me God then I will believe in him.” The second man tells him, “Ok, go outside and stare at the sun for one minute.” The first man went outside but could only look at the sun for a couple of seconds. He went back to the second man and said, “The sun is too bright to see for longer than a few seconds.”

The second man shook his head and said, “The sun is simply one small piece of God’s creation and you cannot even look upon it for one minute. You want to see the brilliance of the Creator Who hung the sun in the sky. But I will tell you this - you cannot see Him because He is too big.”

How true it is. God is a big, amazing, holy and complex Creator. He made some amazing things. But in the midst of these objects of nature He placed us at the center. We are His prized creation. And within us He gave us the curiosity to wonder about Him. If we could simply focus our attention at the things that He placed all around us. We could surely see the fingerprints of the Almighty upon the lowliest of things. Where have you seen God?

This morning I cooked bacon on a skillet outside on the patio. I found it amazing to watch the fat in the bacon begin to form into tiny little 400 degree bubbles that glistened in the sunlight. They then followed in a marching order down the bacon, onto the skillet, over to the hole in the center and into the grease catch; all in single file. The bubbles were like little creatures that made their way towards their destination. Search for God and you can find Him in almost any place. He is there. But you have to look.

“Tell everyone about God’s power… His strength is mighty in the heavens.” --- Psalm 68:34

(Emphasis mine)

Crumble

My kids were not exactly on their best behavior tonight. Well, at least the boys that is. It was pretty apparent to me initially what was going on. I could hear the ruckus coming from the game room upstairs so I made my way up the stairs and peeked over the railing. And when my eyes gazed through the wrought iron it was clear that these guys were tussling on the couch. “YOU’RE NOT JUMPING ON THE COUCH ARE YOU!?!”

Remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoon from 1948 called, “Hot Cross Bunny?” This was the one where bugs was being chased and hid in a closet only to come out spooked because there was a skeleton in the closet. These two boys were certainly caught off guard. But in their moment of entanglement with justice it occurred to me that we had been here before-many times actually. As these two naughty young boys crumbled into that couch I wondered if I would ever get them to abide by the ‘no jumping on the couch’ rule.

And so it is with us. We have those things in our lives that we struggle with. Perhaps it’s a rule God placed in front of us that we continue to break. And when we fall to the temptation we find ourselves crumbling before the Master. The work of the Spirit brings conviction and remorse at a time like that. But we have to be really careful at this moment. It is easy to run and hide. Often times, ditching the Word, skipping church, head-on-bed without prayer-it can all push us away from the Rule Maker.

Don’t let your humanity push you away from God. Crumble indeed but rise again. Pursuing God can be tough. Sometimes we fall but we’ve got to get back up. Remember our “frame” as the psalmist so sang of how the Lord does. We’re made from dust. Cut yourself some slack. Dust yourself off and get back in close with your Maker. My kids may have acted up again but they are trying. It’s just hard sometimes not to jump. But at the end of the day there were still plenty of hugs to be had between father and sons.

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.” --- Psalm 103:13-14 (NLT)

Priorities

2012 limped out like a car-hit-dog that met his match on a country road dusted down by a 1968 Gran Torino. Can you picture that? What a painful year! The American dream is being drowned in taxes unleashed by record high national debt, our babies are being gunned down in elementary schools and our ambassadors can’t even reside in foreign countries without meeting with death’s door. It almost seems like the world has lost its mind. And in historical like fashion, deaths mount in the name of religion when the only religion that can be seen is religious persecution.

According to the Bible, mankind started in a meek and calm setting. This was the true “genesis” of us humans. Let’s summarize the scene. God made man to have a relationship with Him. God had man name and care for the rest of creation. God gave man woman to help him care for things and be his companion. Stop. At this point, all is bliss. Mankind has his priorities. All is well. And then came sin with humanity’s desires and “free will.” That’s when the mess started. Ultimately, Christ Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth and made His proclamation. He told us how to set the stage for a mirrored Eden.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” --- Matthew 6:33  (New Living Translation)

So here we are today. 2013. We’re beaten down, broken, worried, stressed and just plain whipped. The world is in chaos. So what do we do? How do we react? We can bring the macro down to a micro level. We can start with the basics. We can get our priorities in order. Here’s the Lord’s formula:

Step 1 – Seek God. Seek after everything that He stands for. Seek Him in His Word.

Step 2 – Live Right. We need to take care of ourselves, our families and our neighbors.

Step 3 – Trust God when He says that He will then provide all that we need.

 

As Christians, we should pursue God. Our primary mission every day should be to find Him in every facet of our day. Seek Him and His direction. Speak to Him about our concerns and our problems. Praise Him for His mercy, His grace and His blessings. Try it. Live the life of the garden for a week and see how it makes you feel. You might be surprised. And 2013 may shape up to be the most peaceful year for YOU!