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February 5

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

Boundaries. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with them.

Take the adolescent. He wants to test the boundaries. The teenager is not fond of them at all. College students think, “Hey! I’m out of the home. I can do what I want!” They want to discard or disregard boundaries. Many young adults and even older adults want nothing to do with them. F-R-E-E-D-O-M!! is their cry (tapping the inner William Wallace there). 🙂

But while boundaries are seen as confining and stifling and downright unnecessary, they actually are or can be a good thing. It used to be stove doors were not insulated against getting burnt.  When they got hot they got HOT. Ask my youngest brother. He was learning to walk when he got too close to the stove. He touched the stove (after being told constantly not to) and felt the burn on his hand. His reaction was to use the other hand to catch himself. Result= trip to the ER to have severely burnt hands wrapped like mittens. Fortunately, God answered prayers and his hands healed with no sign of burns or inability to use his hands. The boundary of “Don’t Touch!” was for a good reason.

But, our natural inclination is to kick against the boundary. Teens don’t like the rules mom and dad have established so their natural desire is to kick against it, or to see how much they can stretch it. Adults do the same thing. We eat what we know we shouldn’t, even though we know it is leading us down a bad road health-wise. That friendship/relationship needs to be checked. It is getting too intimate or too familiar. That financial arrangement is shady. Someone has said, “When you play with fire you either get burnt or smell like smoke.”

Reading Leviticus 14-15 this morning was almost mind-numbing. It was all about skin diseases and bodily discharges and contaminated/mildewed houses. Seriously? Two whole chapters on that? Yes indeed! And a quick look ahead tells me there is more of the same-prohibitions against eating blood and forbidden sexual practices and multiple other prohibitions. Or shall I say boundaries?  I don’t know all the whys and wherefores of these boundaries. I just know that they matter to God because I matter to Him. God is not setting these boundaries to be a killjoy but because He knows what is best and wants me to avoid heartache and sickness and even injury. These boundaries seem like minutia to me/us, but let’s not see them as that. Let’s see them as an act of a loving God who only want the best for his child.

Sort of like a parent with a child.

August 28

Monday, August 28th, 2023

There is an old saying I’m pretty sure we have all heard: “Be sure your sins will find you out.”  We read stories-often daily-where this adage plays itself out.

  • A church treasurer who decides the church’s money is their personal bank so they begin using the money for themselves and financing ventures for personal gain.
  • An accountant who siphons money from a client or clients because of greed.
  • A builder who uses cheap materials and takes shortcuts while building.

The sad list goes on. Men and women who are trusted, but end up cheating, lying, and taking advantage of others. All while believing they are not going to get caught.

I Timothy 5:24 says, “The sins of some people are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after.” (NASB2020) See that last phrase? My translation: sin will come to roost.

But how about good? You know…there are people who do good but want no recognition. But try as they many, word gets out. I was reminded of that when I continued reading I Timothy 5:25-“Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.”  (NASB2020)

Good should never be done for the purpose of recognition. But sometimes it just can’t help itself.  But keep this in mind: it is far better to be known for doing good, than to be known for your “sins.”

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We had a good weekend. I know some of you had prayed for that. We celebrated Janna’s birthday. She had a migraine so we brought her food home after eating supper with Braden. We visited Jo’s sister, who did not know me, and I’m thinking barely knew Jo. We watched Braden play football Friday night. He played a good game and even intercepted a pass. We also had a safe trip with all the driving miles. Thanks for all your prayers.