Christians have the best of intentions

     Yesterday I had the best of intentions of living my life for Jesus.  How about you?  Did you wake with the best of intentions, rearrange those intentions by 10 and then noon with the final adjustment at dinner?  I did. The best of intentions is not the same as doing what is right.  It's a plan to not do what is right at the time it's right to do it.  Procrastinators are particularly good at accomplishing this feat.  Those who think the best of intentions is a good thing are inevitably going to not accomplish what they should.  The Christian is very good at (generally speaking) rationalizing and justifying why those intentions were thwarted.  We can simply call it excuse making.  In any case, the life of Jesus doesn't flow through me when I only have intentions.  It's what James calls faith with out works.  There can be evidence of our faith but what takes place is faith without an outcome.  Faith should be practiced and when practiced should produce.  When there is something produced by our faith we then can see the results.  How?  We can see change in our lives, the lives of others and a visible testimony to the world that Jesus is alive and well in us.  The best of intentions is not that testimony.
     I'm one of those who makes a list of things that need to be done.  I don't put a timeline to the list but my intention is to get to all of the items sooner or later.  Crossing those items off when completed is fulfilling.  Sometimes I have worked on an item but not completed it.  Can't cross that one off!  Sometimes I have to work on it multiple days or even months (depending on the job/project).  Then sometimes other priorities come up and they go to the top of the list.  You probably do the same thing.  Whether it be at home, church, or work, there are always things that come up to derail that which we have intended to be working on.  You are mowing the lawn and are half done when you run out of gas and have to go to the gas station for more gas.  You might as well go to the hardware store for that item you need for project B while you are out.  You convince you are saving gas by making only one trip.  When you eventually get home and gas up the mower it's getting dark and you quit for the day with the lawn unfinished.  Unfinished jobs really mess with my head.  I don't like unfinished.  This is a pitfall for me.  When I have some project or job to do, I either want to do it completely or not start at all.  So, when I'm in the middle of a job I don't like to be interrupted. 
     Paul tells us to be ready to give an account of the hope inside of us (Jesus).  Being ready is different than making a list.  Being ready is having your faith (in this case) so up front that you can complete the job of witnessing that faith at any moment.  We may intend to do this or that or even have our intention be the best thing we could do.  If we don't do what we need to do, the Bible tells us that we are sinning.  That's James 4:17.  The best of intentions is not a fruit of the Spirit. Why?  Because it's not a verb.  There is no action in the best of intentions.  It's like saying my truck is white.  Yes, that's true.  If I say that my truck moves like white lightening, the verb takes over and there is progress, process and a resultant movement.  Okay, that's not the best example.  You get the point though.  The point is to not just sit or stand there and have the best of intentions. The point is not to shrug your shoulders and say, "Oh well.."  The point is to be doing what the Spirit tells you to think, say and do...all the time.  It's always your choice.