Bill Bright tells the story of a farmer who told his wife he was going out to plow the "south forty."
He got off to an early start so he could oil the tractor. He needed more oil, so he went to the shop to get it. On the way to the shop he noticed the pigs weren’t fed. So he proceeded to the corn crib, where he found some sacks of feed. The sacks reminded him that his potatoes were sprouting. Then when he started for the potato pit, he passed the woodpile and remembered that his wife wanted wood in the house. As he picked up a few sticks, an ailing chicken passed by. He dropped the wood and picked up the chicken.
When evening arrived, the frustrated farmer had not plowed the “south forty” nor had he done anything else. The diagnosis for that is ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), which is the inability to focus on one thing for any period of time.
Have you ever intended to do something you knew was very important, but found yourself in a similar situation - - distracted by many other seemingly important tasks, which kept you from accomplishing your main objective?
Distraction is a common temptation to keep us from doing what is most important. Yes, all these little things may be important, but if we are not careful we will find ourselves drifting aimlessly from one project to another without really doing anything. We need to be focused.
I’ll never forget the story of an efficiency expert who walked into Andrew Carnegie’s office with an offer. He told Carnegie he would give him an idea and later Carnegie could send him a check for whatever he thought the idea might be worth. A few weeks later Carnegie sent the man a check for $25,000.
It was a simple idea to number a card from 1 to 10 and list the things he needed to do that day in the order of their importance. Start with 1 and work down the list until the day was over.
The next morning he numbered the card 1 to 10 filling in what was left undone yesterday and adding new tasks for today….
Jesus expects everyone who calls his name to set certain priorities; God first, spouse second, children third, and ministry fourth. We all should prioritize our lives in this manner, and stay focused. Then when we are on our way to our "south forty," we will not be distracted by the likes of pigs, wood piles and sick chickens in our lives.
What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.
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I spent five years as the chaplain and resource development director of a treatment center for abused children; watching, praying for, and working with children from dysfunctional families. I learned a lot about being a normal family…
Families are dysfunctional when they go off in every direction, when every person in the family has his or her own agenda. Families are “normal” when they have some common goal or purpose. The last thing I asked Mary Ella before we left Thomasville was, “Do you want to go?” If she had said “no,” we would not be here. If God is calling me to move, he will call Mary Ella too.
A good friend, who happens to be black, and I had put together a “home services” business. We’d already decided to call it “Salt & Pepper Home Services.” He was a carpenter/mechanic and I was an electrician/botanist. Both of us could mow grass. So we were ready to apply for a business license, when God opened the door to Metter. I’d rather mow grass with Mary Ella than to move to Metter without her.
A dysfunctional family cannot answer the question, “Who are you?” A “normal” family can answer that question because they are reading from the same page…
We are Christians because we are reading from God’s page. The word “Christian” means “little Christ,” in the same way that Al and Jim are “little Whatley’s.” We are created in God’s image in the same way that Al and Jim are created in our image.
2But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. 3All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.
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This particular section of Scripture weaves together God’s call to both love and righteousness. We all know about John 3:16, “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”
Not many of us pay much attention to 1 John 3:16, “This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.”
Ray Stedman says, “Some years ago I heard of an artist who was painting a picture he felt would be his masterpiece. He was working away on it in his studio, painting the background color, when a friend came in. The artist stepped back and said, "Oh, look at it! It’s my masterpiece. What do you think of it?" The friend said, "Well, it doesn’t look like much to me, just a mass of color." And the artist said, "Oh, I forget. You’re seeing it as it is, but I see it as it will be!" Surely God looks at us that way. He sees us as we will be, but it does not yet appear to us what we shall be.”
John tells us in his gospel that Jesus loved us so much he died for us. Later in the first of his three letters he tells us that we ought to love Jesus in the same way…
Are you willing to die to sin in order to follow Jesus and be like him?
4All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. 5Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. 6No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backwards.
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Alone, Abraham could not see beyond the boundaries of one small valley. With the Spirit he could envision the promise of a whole new land.
Alone, Moses was confined to chasing his herds in the wilderness.With the Spirit he led all the Hebrews to freedom.
Alone, David could not imagine being other than a simple shepherd. With the Spirit he became the king of all Israel.
Alone, Joshua felt the new weight of leadership heavy on his shoulders. With the Spirit he used that weight to knock down walls.
Alone, John the Baptist was an outcast and a misfit. With the Spirit he was a prophet and a visionary.
Alone, Mary was insignificant and lowly. With the Spirit she was the bearer of the greatest gift God has ever given.
Alone, Peter hid in the high priest’s courtyard. With the Spirit he stood in the temple and preached.
Alone, Paul was filled with pride and rage. With the Spirit he was filled with love and peace.
Although little known in American churches, St. Lawrence has been sculptured, painted and crafted in bronze or stained glass more often than almost any other Saint of the Christian Church. In England alone, more than 250 churches are named for him, as are six in Rome.
St. Lawrence was martyred in 258 A.D. But we remember him, not for his martyrdom, but for his being Archdeacon of Rome. His responsibilities included maintaining the sacred vessels of the small, struggling church and distributing alms to the poor. While he was Archdeacon, the Governor of Rome took Pope Sextus captive and demanded, "Where is the treasure of the church?" The Pope would not tell, and they tortured him to death. He never did tell, but in his agony and pain, Pope Sextus somehow mentioned the name of Archdeacon Lawrence. They took Lawrence captive.
"Where is the treasure of the Church?" they demanded, threatening with the same fate that befell the Pope.
Lawrence replied, "Governor, I cannot get it for you instantaneously; but if you give me three days, I will give you the treasure." The Governor agreed. Lawrence left. Three days later he walked into the Governor’s courtyard followed by a great flood of people. The Governor walked out onto his balcony and said, "Where is the treasure of your church?"
Lawrence stepped forward, and pointed to the crowd that accompanied him -- the lame, the blind, the deaf, the nobodies of society -- and said, "Here are the treasures of the Christian church."
The movie Black Hawk Down retells the dramatic story of a small group of Army Rangers who flew into Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture a warlord who was stealing American food shipments from the starving Somali citizens. One of the young men whose life was changed by this brutal battle was Sergeant Jeff Struecker, who now serves as an Army chaplain. Sergeant Struecker claims that as bullets whizzed past his head and grenades exploded all around him, God called him into the ministry. As he said, “In the middle of that firefight, I had to decide whether I believed what I say I believe. And when I finally answered that question, my faith became so strong it gave me the strength to fight the rest of the night.”
This is ultimately what all of life comes down to. “In the middle of that firefight,” said Sergeant Struecker, “I had to decide whether I believed what I say I believe. And when I finally answered that question, my faith became so strong it gave me the strength to fight the rest of the night.”
John closes this passage with these important words…
7So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah.
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