Excuse Me for Doing What's Important

Knowing what’s important and going for it. That’s what really matters, and we should all be doing that. Sometimes we let little things take us off track. I can’t do that, what would my boss think? Of course, if your boss doesn’t approve of you doing what really matters to you, then maybe it’s time to find a new job. Keep in mind, I’m not talking about preaching the gospel instead of doing your job. I’m not. At the same time, though, if you invite a coworker or two to church, and the boss starts thinking that you are evangelizing when you should be working, then he has a right to be concerned, but he shouldn’t fire you over that. Still, a little bit of wisdom may keep the boss from even becoming concerned. Of course, if you don’t have wisdom, spend some time in prayer, seeking God about that.
Sometimes we see someone in need, but the little bit of money we’ve got was supposed to buy dinner. Do we help that person, knowing that it may mean missing a meal? To be honest, that’s something that you should pray and seek God about, because there are a lot of people out there that have no qualms about pretending to be in need in order to gain cash to spend on whatever the heck they want. You don’t need to be missing a meal for someone like that. Of course, most of could probably stand to miss a meal or two, anyway. At the same time, do you really think that God can’t make up a meal for you?
I don’t feel good. Well, sometimes we get really sick, and honestly just can’t do what we should be doing. That happens. Sometimes, though, we start stressing about something that needs to be done, and develop a stress headache, and then say to ourselves, “Well, I can’t do that, now, I’ve got a headache. Isn’t what you’ve got to do more important than that?
What will my friends think? Does it really matter? Granted, none of us really wants to be ostracized by our friends, but, at the same time, we don’t want our friends to go to Hell. If we don’t live a proper example in front of them, how will they know? Keep in mind, that at least some of them will never pick up a Bible and read it on their own, but if they manage to see a little bit of Jesus in us, that might just get them interested enough to learn a little. A lot of people have never actually seen true Christianity. They’ve seen people that go to church on Sunday, and live the rest of the week like they don’t even believe in God, and they’ve seen people that want to tell them how to live, but don’t live that way themselves (or, sometimes, they really do live the life, except that they are so doggone judgmental of everyone else—accent on the ‘mental’ part); that’s not what Christianity is about. That’s part of the reason that your friends may give you a hard time about trying to live for God. They are going to think that’s what you are about, because their natural expectation is that you’re going to be just like that. Don’t be like that. Jesus said that if you aren’t gathering with Him, then you are scattering abroad. There are an awful lot of so-called Christians that do an awful lot of scattering abroad. I think you’d be better off having a heavy stone chained around your neck and thrown into the middle of the ocean…
Look, there is never going to be a shortage of excuses to not do what you really know needs to be done. Personally, I think excuses are like armpits: Most people have a couple, and they generally stink.

What's Your Excuse?

I'm not sure what I am going to blog about today. Maybe nothing, really. I just don't really have anything on my mind right now, but I have a few minutes with an Internet connection, and an obligation to post something. Believe it or not, there are often times when I have nothing on my mind. People who really know me, know that. It seems funny, though, there are often times when I can't get to a computer when something will strike me and I'll say to myself, "I ought to write a blog about that," but then, when I get access, I can't remember what was so important. Sometimes it's just a question of fighting through the noise.

I spent Saturday sick in bed. I felt fine Friday night, and woke up Saturday just plain miserable. I made the trip from my bedroom to the bathroom several times. made the trip into the kitchen a few times, but I couldn't eat anything. I sipped some water, at first. After awhile, I felt well enough to risk sipping some apple juice. Sunday morning, I felt enough better to eat a small breakfast. After church, I tried to eat some lunch. There was a salad, some lemon chicken, with stir-fried vegetables and rice, and then some lemon pie. I didn't really feel like eating, anyway, so I ate a few forkfuls of salad, but then they brought the entree. Hmm. Do I finish the salad, that I don't really feel like eating anyway, and let the chicken get cold? No, I started picking at the chicken. It was good, but I didn't really feel like eating it, either. I ate a few forkfuls of that, with the rice and veggies, but then they brought me the pie. Isn't it funny how it's easier to eat sweets than nutritious food? I still wasn't able to finish the pie, but a whole more of that went into my gut than anything else. Sunday night a friend from church gave me some saltine crackers. Finally, something I actually felt like eating (even more so than the pie). The thing was, I knew I needed to eat. I didn't feel like eating, but I knew my immune system couldn't fight off whatever had attacked my system without fuel to work with. At the same time, a lot of my problem was gastro-intestinal in nature, so eating the wrong thing could make things much worse.

I think sometimes we are like that spiritually. We know what we need to do, but we just don't feel like doing it. Maybe we're feeling depressed about something, or we're mad at God for some reason, but we can almost always find a reason for not doing what, deep down inside, we know we should do. My mother used to tell me that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. There are a lot of people who never do what they need to do because they always let themselves get sidetracked. They aren't bad people, they just never get anything done.