The Eyes of the Lord

I wrote about going to Polishing the Pulpit last week, and I want to continue that theme this week. I mentioned this in my sermon Sunday night but wanted to expand on it. Driving down Interstate 40 is like driving in the Indianapolis 500. I try to drive the speed limit. I believe the Bible teaches us to obey the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-5). When you drive the speed limit, you are just in some people’s way, and they are not very patient about that fact. They will get behind you and honk or flash their lights. When they get to pass you, they might greet you with the middle finger or zoom past. This seemed to be especially bad this time for some reason. Driving seventy miles an hour down the interstate, some people passed me like I was standing still. That is, until they all started slowing down. Why? Traffic, an accident, a change of heart? No, just our friendly state troopers.

That is when I start passing people. The guy doing one hundred now cannot get his car above sixty-five. It reminds me of being a kid. The teacher would leave the room, and chaos would ensue. When the teacher would be back, we would all be polishing our halos. We thought we were getting away with something until we found out she had been listening over the intercom. I want my kids to do the right thing whether they think I am watching or not. I get that when they were younger, you would have to watch and train, but as they have grown up, I hope they do the right thing because it is the right thing and not out of fear of punishment.

Do you think God might desire that as well? As obedient children we do what He has taught us because we love Him, not because we are scared He is watching and going to punish us. Just because you do not see God physically in front of you does not mean He does not see (Proverbs 15:3). Let’s honor Him with our lives today.

Our GPS

I want to thank you all for allowing me to attend Polishing the Pulpit last week. As we were traveling, we were using our GPS. I know how to get to Sevierville, but it is a big help with traffic. It got me to thinking about God as our GPS. We have probably all heard thoughts about God being our GPS. He should be. This article is not about following God; it is about refusing to follow God.

It has been a month or so since I was driving to a destination near Nashville. I put the location in the GPS and began my journey. I asked Tara which route it had us taking. She told me, and we carried on our journey. A little ways in, my passenger asked about the route we were taking. I tried to explain to him the route when he wanted to know why we would go that way. I tried to explain that the GPS takes into account traffic, detours, wrecks, etc. He said he did not want to go that way, he knew a better way, to just listen to him. Before we condemn my passenger, I will have to admit that I have done the same thing. You might have also.

Is this how we treat God? God lays out where we need to go and how we need to go, and we think we know better. I feel more comfortable going this way. I have never been this way. I think this way is faster. That way goes through a rough part of town. So we decide to go our way, and sometimes in the here and now we feel like it worked out for us just fine to do it our way. That just adds to the delusion that we know best. At worst, we find ourselves in a mess begging the GPS to find us a way around. I have been in those situations, and yet I find myself trusting in myself still. I am not saying you should always trust your GPS, but I am saying you can always trust God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Salt & Light

Tara, Noah, and I were playing pickleball the other day at the park in McKenzie. The weather was wonderful for the first weekend in August, especially after a hot July. We had played for a bit when another group showed up to play. I did not think a whole lot about it; I was pretty focused on trying to beat Noah. After a bit of time, a gentleman came over and asked us some questions about how to play. We tried to explain the rules to the best of our knowledge, but we are just learning ourselves. He thanked us for our time and introduced himself. He lives here in Huntingdon, and we said we did also. After he told us what he did, I volunteered that I was the preacher at the church of Christ. He said that someone in their group had said that. We finished playing pickleball and left. As far as I know, I did not know any of those people personally (maybe I did and just did not recognize them). Someone recognized me, and the recognition was about my Christianity. I commented to my family in the car that you never know who is watching. You always need to be a Christian if you claim to be one.

I hope the lesson for all of us is very plain. Are you acting like you follow Jesus wherever you go? What if I had acted a fool on the court? To my shame, I have done that in sports. What message would that have sent about Jesus? My girls work at restaurants here in town. What if I go in or call and I am mean, short, or unpleasant? What message does that send when the waitress sees me sitting across the church building on Sunday morning? The list of these questions could go on and on, but I hope you get the point. Jesus calls us to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16). If the only thing someone knew about Jesus was seeing your life, what would they think about Jesus?