June 09, 2010
Worldly Things
Last week I had some really stressful meetings and I kept replaying them in my head during Sunday morning worship. My thoughts wandered away during the singing, were unfocused through communion and were distracted by side trips during the sermon. I have to give the Spirit credit for trying to get my attention…more than once He called me Martha. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” (Luke 10:41 NIV)
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Gail;
-----Among the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Self-control extends further than just behavior. It is also involved with mental and emotional life. In fact, if we accept the gist of Christ’s sermon on the mount, self-control of the mind and emotions becomes all the more important. Focus is the gateway between our inner being and the events and circumstances happening around us. We are constantly challenged to chose what flows through that gateway, which direction the flow will be, or whether the gate will even be open. He brought God’s law from the place of mere action to become a thing of our mental and emotional activity interacting with our surroundings through the gateway.
-----”Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Mat 6:34) In a sense, the day is the moment within any given set of events and circumstances. It usually calls through the gate for attention because there are things of it that are important. But some of the important things about it may be opportunities to put in place what you may need for a future day. So we go to the grocery store on Friday for the chicken we will fry on Sunday. If we did not give any focus on Friday to Sunday, it will be anyone’s guess as to what Sunday dinner might be. So some moments are meant for the care of other moments.
-----The church service is somewhat a grocery store of spiritual food. The matters of your stressful meetings playing through your head during the church services are no more out of place there than is the shopping list you carry to City Market or Safeway. But when you get to the supermarket, neither do you sit down on the outdoor bench and intensely study your shopping list for all its hidden meaning. Instead, you carry the list into the store and use it to interact with the goods on the shelves. Mostly your attention is focused upon studying those goods for what your list requests. But for sure, you give some attention to the list, as well, to know what goods in the store you should mostly consider.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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