Saturday, February 4, 2017

It's not what you think!

     Because we think we know it all we make assumptions and claim them to be fact.  There is an innate desire in each of us to think we know the facts not in evidence.  That car speeding past you on  a two lane road wasn't a careless driver but a frantic father taking an injured child to the emergency room.  When a co-worker is called into the office they weren't in trouble, they were being told of the good job they are doing.  See what I mean?  So, when we think a Christian is having a secret life of sin, perhaps we are wrong.  You may argue that you may be right in each of the three examples and perhaps you are.  But that's speculation on your part.  I've fallen into this hole more than I would like to admit.  There are the times I've been right and the times I've been wrong.  More often than not it doesn't matter if I am right or wrong.  What matters is that I took to thinking when I shouldn't have.  Jumping to my own conclusions and assuming things as fact that are not.  All I succeeded to do was prove my immaturity as a Christian.  You've done the same thing.  That's what I assume anyway!  You may be perfect and I just don't know it. 
     Perhaps you have that person in your life, office, work situation, church or a relative who knows everything.  It doesn't matter the subject, the situation, or the feelings of others.  Their need to let you know that you need to know they are right is overriding.  The Bible tells us to not waste our time on them.  Their arrogance is offensive and annoying.  Look around them and you find they are usually miserable and lonely.  They are the god of their own world.  I've learned over the years that the more I know, the less I know.  Perhaps you do as well.  There are a lot of situations where I may think I know something but actually am ignorant.  I remember sitting on a dock at a lake with my fishing line in the water feeding the fish when this scruffy disabled (on crutches) young man ambled onto the dock and sat down a few feet from me.  He had a beer in his pocket that he pulled out for his lunch and proceeded to fish.  After a few moments I decided to get to know him.  So we asked and answered the usual questions.  Then came the defining moment for me.  I asked him what he did for a job.  He answered that he was a rocket scientist for Boeing.  My mouth just dropped.  I had made the mistake of thinking.  Shame on me. 
     There are those who advertise who they are at every chance they get.  I'm talking about Christians here.  You know everything about them and nothing about them at the same time.  The Bible tells us to be humble, respectful and truthful.  When we advertise who we are, we can't advertise who God is.  I can say that I am a Christian but that doesn't mean that I am.  I can say that I'm a good man but that doesn't mean that I am.  I can say that I'm a great dad, husband, friend but that isn't necessarily true either.  That's what we get from thinking.  What would happen if we began to let Jesus think through us?  When we give our lives to Jesus we are giving him our thinking as well.  I think it's fair to say that Jesus thinks way better than I do.  Perhaps if I would let him do my thinking no only would I be transformed but so would those around me.  What would happen if you chose to do nothing without first utilizing Jesus' wisdom as a basis of your interactions?  Would you and your life be transformed for Him?  That's way better than having you and your life transformed to be like you.  Sheldon in the book, "In His Steps" does just this.  He presents the original What Would Jesus Do situation in the modern world.  It's a good read and you'll be thinking more like Jesus when you are done.  Better yet, read the Bible that has ALL he answers to life's questions.  It's always your choice.

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