Slippery Paths

I was glad to see the white stuff flying yesterday and the night before. I love snow. I love to drive in snow. I Love to see it pile up in the yard. I love to see it stick to the trees in the field next to us. I just love snow. The kids don't really like to play in it any more. Actually, they never really did. I guess they just don't like to get all dressed up for a few short minutes of fun. I was surprised to see that drivers in the mountains aren't really any better than on the flat lands however. Not all of them, but enough of them to scare me. It was always interesting for me to sit in the park and watch the college kids in my hometown drive up and down the hills in their four-wheel-drives. It never ceased to amaze me how they missed the concept that four-wheel-drive doesn't help you stop on snow and ice. They assumed that the extra traction would help them stop too. Although I supposed it went along with some of the half-truths they were getting in secular college. The way I figure it, truth is what gives us traction for our lives. When we don't have the truth, don't understand the truth, or misunderstand what truth is, we find ourselves slipping all over the place. Going slower helps a little, but only if we are slowing down to learn more. having a Bible on the shelf is kind of like assuming that four-wheel-drive helps you stay on the road all the time. If we never pick it up and read it however, it can't help us at all. We will still slip and slide as it sits there beckoning us to read and understand. Don't find yourself sliding off the slippery paths of life because you are too busy or too sure of your knowledge to read again and again and ask for help in understanding. Psalm 26:2-4 "Test me, oh Lord, and try me, examine my heart and mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, not do I consort with hypocrites." Let's make that our prayer and motto.

Wondrous Variety

Watching people create things inspires me. People truly shine when they are focused on clay, or marble, or paper and pencil, or computer, or paint and canvas. The "creative juices" get to flowing and they arrive at a place of meditation and spiritual peace. Maybe it's the nature of God in us as Creator that is being tapped into. Maybe it is the desire to have something new. I believe God likes new things. The psalmist tell us to sing a new song to Him. He rejoiced at each stage of creation. Personally, when it has been a long time since I tried something new (food, a genre of book, an activity, etc.) I start to get stuck in a bad rut. Someone said that a rut is just a grave with the ends knocked out. I'm not advocating reckless abandon to the lifestyle of Christianity!!! But, I wonder if God does want us to enjoy our world and try new things more often? My favorite line from, one of my favorite movies (Robin Hood with Kevin Costner), is when the little girl asks why Morgan Freeman's character is black. She asks if God painted him. When he replies yes, she asks why. He responds, because Ala loves wondrous variety. I don't believe he had the god correct, but he did have His desire for creativity and variety right!
Spend sometime on a new creative project today. Find out where your hidden talents may be that you can use for God's glory. Sing a new song to God at the very least. See what God will produce from your willingness to try new things with Him.