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Sitting On The Fence (2)
'Like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm' James 1:6
James chews on the end of his biro. His mind tries its hardest to reach for the perfect image. He needs to find a way of describing a problem with these early Christians. He scratches his beard and mutters to himself, 'What good is a truth if they don't know how to live it? What good is an intention if they can't follow it through?'
The trouble is, they have the patter, they know the jargon, they've passed the theory but they keep flunking the practical. They say one thing and then do the other. They're as consistent as ocean waves in a storm, hurling themselves one way, raging themselves the other. 'Wait! That's it!'
He furiously scribbles, 'People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open' (James 1:6 TM).
Lots of Christians behave like those 'wind-whipped waves'; furiously trying to do things our way, trying to have the casting vote. But didn't Jesus teach us to pray, 'Your will be done'?
Shouldn't God have the controls, not us? Grasping and holding tight to things makes us look like toddlers pulling tantrums. The mature believer recognises that 'self-help is no help at all.
Self-sacrifice is the way ... to finding ... your true self' (Matt. 16:25 TM). So stop behaving like a storm in a teacup and start trusting God.
written by Bob Gass
'Like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm' James 1:6
James chews on the end of his biro. His mind tries its hardest to reach for the perfect image. He needs to find a way of describing a problem with these early Christians. He scratches his beard and mutters to himself, 'What good is a truth if they don't know how to live it? What good is an intention if they can't follow it through?'
The trouble is, they have the patter, they know the jargon, they've passed the theory but they keep flunking the practical. They say one thing and then do the other. They're as consistent as ocean waves in a storm, hurling themselves one way, raging themselves the other. 'Wait! That's it!'
He furiously scribbles, 'People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open' (James 1:6 TM).
Lots of Christians behave like those 'wind-whipped waves'; furiously trying to do things our way, trying to have the casting vote. But didn't Jesus teach us to pray, 'Your will be done'?
Shouldn't God have the controls, not us? Grasping and holding tight to things makes us look like toddlers pulling tantrums. The mature believer recognises that 'self-help is no help at all.
Self-sacrifice is the way ... to finding ... your true self' (Matt. 16:25 TM). So stop behaving like a storm in a teacup and start trusting God.
written by Bob Gass