DEVOTION
Got the T-Shirt to Prove It!
By
Missey Butler
Guest Writer
CBN.com
--There is nothing quite as exhilarating as a brand new
beginning. There is just something about a fresh start, the opening
of a new chapter, the turning over of a new leaf. It feels so
good when we can revel in the anticipation of starting from a
clean slate.
Ah yes, all is well and life is good… that is, until the
moment that we begin to realize, Wait a minute. This somehow
looks vaguely familiar. It seems to me that I’ve been here
before? In fact, I know I’ve been here before. No, I don’t
think I’m second guessing myself. These definitely look
like my footprints on this beaten path, around this very familiar
mountain. Well, what do you know? I’m right back where I
started. I can’t believe it. I’ve been going around
the same circle over and over again!
Don’t you just love those reality check moments, those
fright or flight experiences that can either make or break you?
Yes, they can prove to be most brutal, but often they are necessary
in order to alert us to the fact that something might be out of
kilter.
I recently had one of those encounters. My faithful friend, the
Holy Spirit, gently led me to my own private screening of THIS
IS YOUR LIFE. And just like the lovable football coach John Madden,
with his famous black felt marker in hand, reviewing all the mistakes
of the game, play by play, I was being shown how I had innocently
picked up a bad habit of repeatedly becoming “hooked”
on one particular thing, and always wanting to START OVER! That
was my answer to every problem. I kept falling into the trap of
the proverbial “Oh well, I’ll just start again tomorrow
-- or better yet, Monday.” Little did I realize that this
character flaw of always procrastinating was fast becoming the
theme song of my life.
I once heard a well-respected man of God preaching a very powerful
sermon entitled “The Most Dangerous Word in the Universe.”
As he bellowed his message with fiery indignation, I found myself
leaning into the television, locked onto his every word, waiting
with eager anticipation as to what this mysterious word could
possible be. Finally, as if unveiling the Hope diamond he said,
“The most dangerous word in all the universe is TOMORROW!”
Tomorrow? I thought to myself. But then as I listened
carefully, he masterfully expounded on the subtle trappings of
just how we can put off performing God’s perfect will for
our lives with an innocent “I’ll just wait another
day, or put it aside until tomorrow,” instead of obediently
following the promptings of God’s voice, moment by moment
TODAY.
Wow, like a search light locating a runaway prisoner, I had been
located, yet I was even glad to surrender myself to the handcuffing
of the Holy Spirit. I bowed my head in sincere repentance and
whispered a renewal of surrender to the Keeper of my soul, the
One who is my rear guard, the One who loves me enough to correct
my wanderings and make my crooked path straight. I felt peace
again when I heard Him gently whisper:
For the goodness of the Lord leads men to repentance.
—Romans 2:4
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