Things to Ponder

How do we get so far from home? Evil rarely begins by tempting us to “sin.” More often, it whispers that the life God has given us isn't enough, stirring desires that leave us restless, divided, and far from home. Colby Acuff’s “If I Were the Devil” walks us down a path from our desires, to conflict, to imposter saviors, to a kind of numbness to the world and to God. But Psalm 73 offers us a prayer that restores our vision, exposing the lies we've believed and reorienting our hearts to what we were made for. In Christ, our deepest longing isn't fulfilled by getting what we want, but hearing the voice of the Shepherd who is calling us home to himself.

Advent calls us to develop virtue as we wait for the coming of a Savior: hope, peace, joy, and love. But like the lights of a Christmas tree, unless they are “plugged in,” they won’t shine. Until they’re connected to the source, they can’t do what they were built to do. So it is with us. We weren’t made to shine on our own.

Isaiah coyly says, “The stump is the seed.” How can this be? Stumps are death. Seeds are new life. Seed is possibility. That is the beauty of God - in the midst of destruction, God has placed within Israel new beginnings. And so it is with us.

"Number our days" isn’t about living in anxiety or regret. It means to pay attention to them…God has created character, relationships, opportunities, disciplines into the next chapter for you. You don’t open up to a clean slate; you open up to the power of God at work in your life.

Look back at your last chapter. What sits in your heart that you are delighted to share? What hidden challenges did you overcome? Where did you avoid going sideways—either by good judgment or sheer grace? Number those days, and give thanks, then apply those lessons to what is to come – what are my next, most faithful steps in light of that truth?

Number tomorrow, too. Have big plans, but have small ones, too. What small habit will you practice tomorrow to move toward the person God is shaping you to be? Whatever the season you are entering—whether it’s college, a new job, retirement, or a season of waiting—God is already preparing a path for you and a purpose for you. Wise living isn’t about predicting or shaping the future; it’s about being awake to the present and trusting the story God is writing.

Martha asks, “Am I doing the right thing?” The Corinthians asked, “Is this allowed?” Paul asks a different question entirely, “What kind of person and community are we becoming?” He wants us to use a new filter: Does it build up? Does it give life?  Does it deepen love in Christ?

We live in a world that is constantly competing for our attention, but the deepest question is not what captures our attention—it is what deserves it. Increasingly, what keeps us from the life of Christ himself – that resurrected, powerful life filled with the Spirit – isn’t the BAD stuff. It’s filters. Distractions. The world is eager to tell us where fullness can be found. More achievement. More consumption. More visibility. More urgency. More power.  More of whatever keeps us moving fast enough that we never stop long enough to ask whether we're becoming wise.

When all the while, the call of Jesus is simply to sit and be.  The work will come in due time.

Wisdom realizes we’re shaped less by what we think, and more by what we love. So before Scripture tells us what to do, it is serious about calling us to examine what we want.

Which means wisdom is this: Decide today who you want to be tomorrow. Because the person you become tomorrow is being formed right now.

Christ has never stopped working on you. Christ can see in you what you cannot see in yourself.  The Christian faith is not a story about people who always got it right. It's a  story about a Savior who keeps calling people back to the right path. And when  Christ calls us back, he does more than forgive us. He teaches us how to live. He invites us into a wise way.

Wisdom is the applied knowledge, the practical understanding, we get as we live life, answers the question, “How do I live well? Just one problem. We gain wisdom looking backwards, but we have to live moving forward. Our world is flush with information, but desperately lacking in lived wisdom. Information technologies have not made us more generous, compassionate, or wise.

Wisdom is aligning my life with the way God built the world to work. Wisdom isn’t a principle; it’s a person.

Pentecost demands our desires. It demands those messy, growling-belly parts of our lives we try to hide. When your heart says, “I  want... I desire,” the Spirit challenges us to hand those desires to Christ and say, “Lord, here’s what I want. Maybe this is from you, maybe not. Whatever - make my heart beat for your Kingdom.”

We need the imagination to see who actually sits on the throne. Our conviction is that in Christ is our hope, and the hope of the world. Christians says without apology that Christ is not identified with agendas and parties and movements, but that is he above all kings and all presidents and all governments of the world, and demands a higher allegiance. I am a citizen of heaven who happens to live in America. Any my allegiance is to the principles of faith, hope, and love demonstrated on a cross.

Healing is tricky - there's a lot more to it than just "getting better." When Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law, its not just that she's better; its that she is restored. One woman’s dignity became the public invitation for an entire community. We are restored so that we can stand at the threshold and meet the world,” offering dignity to a world that just wants to know someone cares.