Friday, July 26, 2019

Recalculating

Monday, July 29, 2019

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.  So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?  Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.  These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline.  But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.  Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Colossians 2:20 – 3:1[2]

Elizabeth and I were in WalMart last week looking for a front door welcome mat.  We knew it would be somewhere in the Home Décor department, but exactly where that is in a store the size of Cleveland was a muddy guess.  So, the conversation went like this:
Elizabeth:  I think it’s down this aisle over here.
Russell:  Hmmm…(to the WalMart young lady employee standing over an open carton with a price label gun):  Can you tell me where to find welcome mats?
Lady employee:  Sure….right over here.  (Meaning 3 aisles from where Elizabeth said they’d be)
Elizabeth:  (eye-rolling as she moves toward the grinning husband) Hmmm.
Russell:  (to Lady employee, rather loudly)  Never let it be said that a MAN won’t stop to ask for directions!
If you’ve ever used a GPS in your car you have heard that dreaded electronic voice informing you’ve taken a wrong turn or missed the right one…RECALCULATING! 
OK, it’s confession time; for that very reason, that one, annoying word, recalculating, I have the sound on our GPS turned off.  I hate hearing that I goofed.  Besides, that sound makes it very hard for me to nonchalantly take another twenty minutes and 800 turns to explore my way back to where I should have been an hour ago, and not have Elizabeth notice I took a wrong turn!  Let’s face it, my pride and the infallibility of an electronic device are hardly able to exist in the same room!
And that’s the whole point when it comes to Paul’s encouragement for us to recalculate, to get our eyes off the shortcomings of this earth and focus our eyes on the perfection of Heaven.  It’s like the adage that the target you stare at will be the one you hit.  Whether it’s hitting a fastball, shooting a bow and arrow, or aligning your life with Godly principles, keeping your eye on the target is a good idea!
For You Today
For a Christian the “target” has little to do with following this teacher, or that television pastor, or the latest 40 Days to Perfection fad.  You were not raised to new life by any of that.  Keeping your eyes on Jesus is the recalculation we all have as life’s supreme target.                                                                                                                
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©
[2] For another devotion on this topic see Holy Heart; Healthy Heart or Elevate Your Game

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