Thought for Today

Deuteronomy 4:23  So be careful not to forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you, and not to make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.

Joshua 1:7  Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.  

Ephesians 5:15  Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,  

Titus 3:8  The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works  

I wonder how many times I cautioned our children to “Be careful!” Did I really believe that either of them ever deliberately set out not to be careful? If they did, did I really think my offering that warning would change their minds? Yet, just as my own mother had warned me, I warned my own children.

All of us should (always) be careful. All of us should (always) act prudently, cautiously and carefully to optimize our lives and our world to provide the greatest possible good for ourselves and others. All of that should go without saying. Or, should it?

All progress requires change . .  . but all change is not necessarily progress. If every intrepid adventurer or explorer had been careful, nothing would ever have been discovered. If every alchemist had been careful, modern chemistry would not exist. If the Sons of Liberty, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington had all been careful, there might not be a United States of America. Was the apostle Paul careful as he set out on his mission journeys into Asia and Greece?

The Prophet of Ecclesiastes wrote, “3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”  He did not say anything about being careful. Did he just leave out ‘a time to be careful and a time to throw careful to the winds’?

In all of this, what is the message for us as Christians? Had our ancestors-in-the-faith been excessively careful, there would be no Christendom. Moses was not careful in challenging Pharoah. The people of the Exodus were not being careful as they crossed the Red Sea, at least in the sense of depending on that temporarily exposed seabed remaining open and being dry enough to walk upon.

Our faith sometimes requires of us what we call a ‘leap of faith.’ By that, we mean that sometimes we have to go where care, logic and reason cannot take us. In the Bible, we read, “Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” And the apostle Paul reminds us, “Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God’”

Being careful, relying on logic or reason, cannot reveal to us the greater truths of being Christians. Our individual, personal encounters with the risen Christ provide us with that assurance, that conviction. The resultant faith of our encounters gives us access to that God-given grace, that inestimable, eternal gift.

What we do with our lives is important. Being careful with the lives God has given us is important. Paul told the Ephesians to be careful, to be wise people. The Epistle of James reminds us that the lives we live witness to our faith. It is not possible to separate Christian lives from Christian faith; they are merely 2 sides of one coin.

The current theme of the devotionals in These Days is “Living with Intention.” Christians do live with intention. Micah long ago told us what is necessary to attain God’s grace, “6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Jesus phrased it, “Luke 10:27 ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’" We do need to be careful to do just that in all that we do. Take the leap of faith. Believe. Then, don’t forget, be careful.

Stay safe, be careful, trust God,

Pastor Ray