A long to-do list + a short week.
I went on a Costco run to stock the shelves after our thanksgiving celebrations, chose some fabric to re-upholster our dining room chairs and brought them to the shop, then checked on dad after his surgery. The laundry piles slowly got dealt with and readings for coursework accomplished.
Then, in all the hustle and bustle, the Word brings pause.
I’m into the prophets for my bible reading plan and in Ezekiel 33 tells us that God appointed Ezekiel a watchman over Israel. The watchmen were military personnel tasked on the city walls to sound out when danger encroached. The Lord used prophets as watchmen to warn the people of their errors, of God’s coming judgement, and invite them toward repentance.
As watchmen stood on guard, the scriptures also invite us to be vigilant over our lives. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8).
In Brian Hedges book, Watchfulness: Recovering a Lost Spiritual Discipline, he writes, “to cultivate watchfulness is to preserve freedom—from the world and its snares; from sin and its enslaving power; and from the temptations, deceptions, and accusations of our adversary the devil.”
Thomas Brooks explains it this way, “watchfulness includes a waking, a rousing up of the soul. It is a continual, careful observing of our hearts and ways, in all the turnings of our lives, that we still keep close to God and his word.”
In our day to day comings and goings, it’s easy to neglect keeping a keen-eye on our thoughts and actions, because our mind swirls with plans and activities and preparations. Yet we know the fruit we bear is a product of the soil’s fertility—the soil of our heart.
So, I’m encouraged again of the importance of abiding in Christ: To take time in solitude and reflection, before the Word and in prayer to examine my thoughts and my ways, to confess and repent, and receive the grace of forgiveness in the promises the Lord gives us. He leads and sustains me for this day and for his glory.
May we be watchful over our hearts today.
This Week on the Blog
A review of Amy DiMarcangelo’s new book titled, “Go and Do Likewise: A Call to Follow Jesus in a Life of Mercy and Mission.”
Reflecting on our tendency of self-reliance and how we can learn to trust the Lord intentionally and purposefully.
This Week in Articles
“We’ll need to explain not only to the world what we believe but to the church why we believe what we believe. This is the task before us—a moments opportunity to dig deeper into our faith as we uphold a vision for humanity that reaches far higher than anything the world offers.”
Jana reminds us, “Jesus was fully God, but he was also fully man in a physical human body, meaning he had needs like us. He experienced hunger, tiredness, hurt, and temptation like we do. How did he keep going?”
I’m enjoying this series by
Ivana Greco
as she interviews a variety of women on the task and beauty of home-making.
“Nearly half (48 percent) of evangelicals believe that serious mental illness can be overcome with prayer and Bible study alone.1” This article is adapted from their book, A Christian’s Guide to Mental Illness. This is an important question for Christians to understand and answer.