Clay in the Hands

I just got back last night from a men’s retreat to Colorado.  Eight men from our church and two others left Saturday morning and headed for Freeman’s Ranch – a little north of Creede, Colorado.  If you have never heard of it, it is because it is in the middle of the Rio Grande National Forest – away from civilization.

It was beautiful but technology was not really an option – no cell service at all.  However, this year there was a new addition.  The camp does have WiFi.  If I stood at the light pole facing north, raised one hand in the air and stood on my left foot, I could get a weak signal.

Actually, it was not quite that hard to get.  But the point is, we were really out in God’s creation and not pulled in by email, voice mail and text messages.  It was a glorious time to experience God’s majesty and spend some time bonding with some great guys.

On our way home yesterday, one of the guys noticed a large cross standing in a field just off the highway.  I missed it, but he described it and said, “There was one folding chair sitting under the cross.”  We mused about why there would be a single chair by a cross in a field along the highway.

Honestly, I don’t have any idea.  But I can tell you what that image has come to mean in my mind as I pondered the picture all the way home.

Scripture tells us that Christ died for all.  He came to this earth to live among us, teaching us how to live and how to love.  He showed us the magnitude of his love by dying a cruel death in our place.  And he did this for all of us.

But while he died for all – he also died for one – each one.  For me, that is the significance of the single chair at the foot of the cross.  Jesus wants a relationship with you – so much so he was willing to die just for you.

Your parents can’t make the decision for you.  Your pastor can’t take care of it.  Your friends can’t cover you.  You have to make that decision for yourself.

Will you follow Jesus?

Will you take a seat in that chair at the foot of the cross?

You will never regret it!

(I don’t do this very often, but if you have questions about what it means to follow Jesus, I would be honored to talk with you about it.  Please email me at bhill33@me.com or leave a comment here)

Who has your heart?  Or stated another way, who has captured your attention, affection and dedication?

The answer to that question varies from person to person.  And for some of us, it may vary from time to time.  Answers may range from “my spouse,” to “my job,” to “my kids.”

At the center of the issue is focus.  Where do you focus your attention?

If we are honest, most of us focus our attention on ourselves.  Yes, we may strive to be honorable and to be a good husband or wife and a good father and mother.  But the reality is, we are, at our core – self centered.  We want our own way and as long as these other things fit into what we want, then all is well with the world.  But when we come to a fork in the road and pleasing someone else means we won’t be happy, then more often than not, we will veer down the path of keeping ourselves comfortable and content.

Let me suggest another option.  When we seek to please God, all these other areas of life fall into place.  When we strive to serve God, then serving our spouse and our kids becomes part of the plan and not something we tack on when we feel like it.

It sounds easy enough but remember, at our core we are self centered.  So here is my challenge for you today – start by making it a matter of prayer.

Here is my prayer today – you can make it yours:

God, grant me an unwavering focus and lead my heart to you!

Be blessed today!

Ever had one of those days that turns into 3?

Monday morning, my week was turned upside down.  I got a call from the gas company telling me that they had replaced our gas meter at our house.  Now that is not a bad thing,  But then he said, “we have detected a leak in your gas line and we think it is between the meter and the house – underground.”

He turned off our gas and told me when I got the line replaced they could turn it back on.

Now that sounds simple enough, but what it entailed for us was talking with the city, getting a permit and then spending Monday night, all day Tuesday and all day Wednesday digging a ditch 15 inches deep 55 feet long – under 3 sidewalks and 5 water sprinkler lines.

Of course, this is the week that we have Vacation Bible School, we have a new office manager starting and it is the hottest week we have had all summer.  But other than that, the timing could not have been better!

So my week has not gone as I had planned it.  But, as I stood and watched and listened to the kids sing at Vacation Bible School last night, it was as if God said, “Your schedule interruptions didn’t stop me from loving these kids.”

They were full of life and having fun and learning a little about God in the process.  While my world seemed to crater all week, God was still at work.

Now I realize, that statement seems a bit narcissistic and self-centered.  Of course God is at work regardless of what I am experiencing.  But it was completely refreshing for me to be reminded of that fact.

So no matter what you are experiencing today, God is at work all around you – and even in you.  Stop for a minute today and look.

Be blessed today!