Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.
Life is confusing enough,
do we need to make it more confusing?
I wake up each day to a world
where the rules are constantly changing.
I can't even get past breakfast
without wondering if I am doing the right things.
Am I eating healthy
or am I chewing myself one step closer to the grim reaper?
Eggs used to be healthy,
then they weren't,
now I think they are again.
Margarine was better for you than butter,
then they turned that around.
I opened the newspaper
and found out that my cell phone
might be radiating waves into my brain.
A commercial on the TV told
me I had better get a radon detector
TODAY.
I turned on the internet and was told
that kittens are dangerous!
It seems that kittens often carry toxiplasmosis,
a parasitic disease,
that is transmitted through fecal material.
It can cause inflammation of the brain,
scarring of the eyes,
and skin lesions.
Let's just call the kitty litter box
deathtrap #471 in my house of horrors.
My inclination was to crawl into bed
and hide under the sheets...
that is, until I learned that certain detergents
can give you a rash.
It takes courage to get up and face the world every day,
let alone make decisions how to live in it.
As I drove to work,
A car passed me going the other direction
driven by a man who was shaving .
Now I consider myself a multi-tasker,
but my anxiety level went up another notch.
Surely when I got to work
I would feel secure and safe......
after all,
I work at a church.
I walked up to the entrance,
when I saw posted on the door....(see picture above)
and I realized that I had left my respirator at home....
Life is confusing,
and conflicting.
At times, do we make is more confusing than it needs to be?
It's hard to know sometimes what is right and what is wrong.....
what is good for you,
and what is bad for you
Some say that people of faith need to live black and white
in a world where it all seems gray.
I say that we need to see the gray in a world
that is forever black and white.
Politics, social topics, religious views.
There are so many things that offer us opposing views
the world is filled with black versus white.
And we are left to choose.
Is there anyone who thinks abortion is always the answer?
Is there anyone who thinks abortion is never the answer?
Should political views need to be to the extreme left or right?
Should Christians agree on all social issues?
Probably not.
The Pharisees made it their life goal to entrap Jesus into black or white answers.
He never fell into that trap.
Nicodemus tried to take spiritual truths
and whittle them down to specific life situations.
Nicodemus wanted to know whether to choose butter or margarine.
But Jesus wouldn't give him a dietary recommendation.
Instead, He gave Him eternal Truth.
Truth that embraces all of life
and reveals itself to all of humanity.
The only thing that Jesus asks for,
is a surrendered heart.
So the next time you need to make a decision,
about your breakfast,
about your choice of pets,
about your vote in a political election,
remember,
it's not so much about the choice you make,
as it is about who is guiding you in your choosing.
I need to get my respirator,
so I can get back to work.
If you abide in My word,
the, you are true disciples of mine;
and you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31b-32
Life is confusing enough,
do we need to make it more confusing?
I wake up each day to a world
where the rules are constantly changing.
I can't even get past breakfast
without wondering if I am doing the right things.
Am I eating healthy
or am I chewing myself one step closer to the grim reaper?
Eggs used to be healthy,
then they weren't,
now I think they are again.
Margarine was better for you than butter,
then they turned that around.
I opened the newspaper
and found out that my cell phone
might be radiating waves into my brain.
A commercial on the TV told
me I had better get a radon detector
TODAY.
I turned on the internet and was told
that kittens are dangerous!
It seems that kittens often carry toxiplasmosis,
a parasitic disease,
that is transmitted through fecal material.
It can cause inflammation of the brain,
scarring of the eyes,
and skin lesions.
Let's just call the kitty litter box
deathtrap #471 in my house of horrors.
My inclination was to crawl into bed
and hide under the sheets...
that is, until I learned that certain detergents
can give you a rash.
It takes courage to get up and face the world every day,
let alone make decisions how to live in it.
As I drove to work,
A car passed me going the other direction
driven by a man who was shaving .
Now I consider myself a multi-tasker,
but my anxiety level went up another notch.
Surely when I got to work
I would feel secure and safe......
after all,
I work at a church.
I walked up to the entrance,
when I saw posted on the door....(see picture above)
and I realized that I had left my respirator at home....
Life is confusing,
and conflicting.
At times, do we make is more confusing than it needs to be?
It's hard to know sometimes what is right and what is wrong.....
what is good for you,
and what is bad for you
Some say that people of faith need to live black and white
in a world where it all seems gray.
I say that we need to see the gray in a world
that is forever black and white.
Politics, social topics, religious views.
There are so many things that offer us opposing views
the world is filled with black versus white.
And we are left to choose.
Is there anyone who thinks abortion is always the answer?
Is there anyone who thinks abortion is never the answer?
Should political views need to be to the extreme left or right?
Should Christians agree on all social issues?
Probably not.
The Pharisees made it their life goal to entrap Jesus into black or white answers.
He never fell into that trap.
Nicodemus tried to take spiritual truths
and whittle them down to specific life situations.
Nicodemus wanted to know whether to choose butter or margarine.
But Jesus wouldn't give him a dietary recommendation.
Instead, He gave Him eternal Truth.
Truth that embraces all of life
and reveals itself to all of humanity.
The only thing that Jesus asks for,
is a surrendered heart.
So the next time you need to make a decision,
about your breakfast,
about your choice of pets,
about your vote in a political election,
remember,
it's not so much about the choice you make,
as it is about who is guiding you in your choosing.
I need to get my respirator,
so I can get back to work.
If you abide in My word,
the, you are true disciples of mine;
and you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31b-32
.
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