Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Stay on Target!


We have a GPS system in Tim's new car. He uses it to find customers and new clients who may need electrical supplies. I also use GPS to find properties for our real estate business.

Tim and I have learned the value of "HOME." Our GPS System, or "Veronica," as we have started to call her, knows exactly where we are and how to get us home. We drive looking for "fisboes" - For Sale By Owner homes which are not be listed in the paper or on the internet. Sometimes we turn down a road, then we turn down another road, which winds around a mountain, then we turn back onto another road. Were it not for Veronica, we could be lost. We click "HOME" on the touch screen, and she gently (yet persistently) guides us back to the main road, or navigates a route we never would have known existed to return us back home.

Veronica serves a navigational purpose which is easily overlooked in my personal life. Sometimes I get so far off target, doing things I think are important (things God should thank me for - just look at all the work I'm doing for him!), that I can't find my way home. God's Word is my "HOME." I'm recentered, refocused, and navigated back to the place I'm supposed to be.

Luke 8:11-21 (NLT)
11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 17 For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.
18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”
19 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn’t get to him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to see you.”
21 Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright
© 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.