Not for the weak or lazy.

     Yesterday it was 99 degrees in my backyard where I had been working on getting my above ground pool ready for the summer.  Yes, I know I should have done so earlier!  I have 1 1/2 yards of sand to move to level the area, the inside needed to be washed so it was clean and then everything put back in place.  I didn't get to the sand which means the pools still sits on the grass.  However, the pool did get cleaned.  It was definitely hotter in the pool than outside the pool!  But, I finished the cleaning and called it a day.  No, I didn't go back and move the sand, replace the pool and fill it with water.  That can all wait.  Why did I stop?  Not because I was tired.  Not because I had lost interest and certainly not because nothing more needed to be done.  I stopped because it was the wisest decision for me with the temperatures where they were.  Common sense was given as part of God's download into my brain.  We all have common sense.  It's just that some people use it and some don't.  I don't complain about the heat but my body does.  I don't complain about the cold but my body does.  My body was given common sense as well.  All of this is dependent upon our paying attention to God.
     I finished re-reading the Old Testament this morning.  Wow!  What an epic story with prophecies concerning Jesus coming, his death and resurrection.  More than that, there is the promise of our future with or without Jesus as Lord!  I'm excited to begin the New Testament!  Can't wait to see the story unfold.  It's not the first time I've read through the Bible.  The Bible isn't for the weak or the lazy.  Well, maybe it is in the sense that they need to see what's ahead of them.  Jesus never calls us to be weak or lazy but rather to utilize the common sense that God has already instilled in us.  Paul tells us to be "instant in season and out to give account of that which Christ has done within us." (my paraphrase).  Knowing this we need to approach the day from God's perspective.  Should we do this, we will anxiously wait (positive anxiety) to see what God puts before us.  Ready to be amazed we look and listen for that which God has ordained in our lives.  That sole focus means we don't pay attention to the world.  The world's exciting only for those who are perishing.  That's where you and I come in.  We are to bring the Gospel to those who are perishing.  Just as Jesus went to the sinners to deliver the Gospel, we are called to do the same.  We do that by utilizing common sense from God, believing and holding to the Gospel and without a "shadow of turning" unabashedly preaching the Gospel with all of our thoughts, words and deeds.
     Remember the mandate?  Go and make disciples of all nations, care for the widow and the orphan.  It's still valid.  Nothing about the great commission has passed away.  With the intensity of the world's self destruction we are needed more than ever to be the Gospel to those around us.  Not with timidity or with hesitation but with boldness and being instantly able to share the Gospel.  If we question the Gospel, they will know.  If we don't live what we preach, they will know.  If we don't preach, they will not know.  The question remains are we going to live an "if" life of the weak and lazy or are we going to live a life of boldness and confidence knowing that The God of all creation has us in the hollow of his hands?  He will never leave nor forsake us.  He won't put anything on us that we cannot bear up under.  Remember that those around us will be watching to see if we struggle as well as when we succeed.  They need to know how much we care in order to care about what we know.  Do you know Jesus?  Remember, it's always your decision.