Misplaced Love, by Will

One of the things that I frequently remember from my college days is a quote from a professor we affectionately called Doc, "All sin is misplaced love." For the past few weeks this quote has been on the front of my mind. The things we love the most are the things that we invest ourselves into.

Jesus said, "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6.21). He's talking about investing in things that matter, things that carry eternal value and worth. When I was leading a church as pastor, I had the opportunity to walk through the last months of a man's life with him. He was diagnosed with ALS in late November 2011, and died early in 2012. It was a lot faster than we were expecting, but every Tuesday I would go sit with him in his home and we would talk.

At the time I was only 25, and I was blessed with an experienced pastor who guided me through the process of walking someone towards home. When this man had accepted the reality of death, we began to talk about heaven. As I was preparing to drive to his house for what would be our last Tuesday meeting, I spoke with my pastor friend who pointed out this reality to me.

"In heaven, the streets are paved with gold. The thing that is most precious on earth, the thing that armies have marched for, civilizations have been wiped out for, is used to pave the streets of heaven. No one goes out in the road and breaks it up to hoard asphalt; it's so common place that is worthless. In heaven, the thing we value so much on earth is so common place that it is utterly worthless and so it is used to pave the streets."

What do you love? What are you investing in? All sin is misplaced love, and the things we invest are the things we love the most.

I want to be an Old Testament Scholar, that means have a very solid understanding of Old Testament Hebrew. I've had three classes on Hebrew, and almost a year to study it, but I'm not an expert, honestly at this point I can't even name the seven different verb forms, why? because I'd rather be distracted by YouTube videos (right now I'm hooked on colorblind people receiving enchroma glasses, and these are pretty amazing and emotional).

I want to be a published author, that means research and writing. When I get home at night after a long day at work, all I want to do is sit down and not think about thing strenuous.

I want to pursue my PhD, and more and more I'm realizing the effort that needs to go into this process now. I've read a couple papers for people beginning their programs, and they already have a solid foundation of work done at the beginning. I've got an idea of a topic, but there are re-runs of The Office on.

What is it for you? What is your goal? What is your action? Where is your heart? What do you love?

All sin is misplaced love. The Bible tells us " And He said to him, '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'" (Matthew 22.37-39)

"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (John 4.8)

Studying Hebrew, is loving God with my mind. Writing is a chance to help people grow closer to God, people I'll never come into contact with any other way. The PhD is an essential to teach college, and that is a chance to impact the world by helping the hearts and minds of students come to a deeper understanding of who God is. By not pursuing these things, by loving other things more than these things, I'm failing to love God, I'm failing to others, and as a result, I'm sinning. My love is misplaced, and that needs to change.

I don't want waste anymore time investing in things that don't matter. I don't want to let my mind be distracted, even by something as moving as people's reactions to seeing color for the first time. I want to fully love God in all things, and I want my life to be invested in things with eternal value. All the treasures of this world pale in comparison to heaven, and I don't want to waste anymore time loving the wrong things.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

The Things We Learn, by Will

This is a good week, I have my girls for the entire week. I have a lot of things planned, a lot of the things they like to do but spread out over a week rather than crammed in to two and a half days. I'm already feeling the relaxed nature of things and loving every minute of it. Being around them is one of my favorite things. Their snuggles when they get tired, their jumping on me in the morning when they are awake, the excitement and joy on their faces when they learn something new and overcome a struggle, and the happiness on their faces from the fun things we do.

I love observing them and noticing the unique things about their personalities. My oldest, Belle, has a very kind and tender heart. She is a natural leader and encourager. She'll randomly tell people that they look beautiful, and is the first one to volunteer to help out. She's smart, she's kind, and she takes charge. I love that about her. My youngest, Cinderella, is fearless and tough. She will try anything and refuses to give up until she overcomes the trial. She's strong (in body, mind and spirit), and yet she has a tender and compassionate side, always wanting to know where her baby is. I love how unique they are, and I can't wait to see how these traits shape their lives.

As I watch my girls, I'm forced to take a look at myself. I'm not naturally kind and outgoing, giving compliments to strangers. I'm not fearless, and there are many times I've played it safe in the past. Where did this come from? Watching my girls it isn't natural, they are both under 5, and the way they live is natural. At 31, the way I live is learned.

John 10.10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." The negative things we learn are from the enemy; he wants to steal courage, kill kindness, and destroy all that is good, true, and beautiful. We're taught to not do dangerous things, one of which is talking to strangers, and that changes the way we live.

Jesus came to change how we live, life to the fullest, full of risk and kindness, taking chances and pouring into others. This is the way I want to live and the way God has called me to live, and I now wear dog tags around my neck as a reminder of who God has called me to be (more on this in a future post). I'm tired of playing it safe, and I don't want to pass that lifestyle on to my girls. It's tough as a dad, especially a dad of girls, but I want them to learn to live by faith, in kindness and courage. I want Belle to be a leader, who heals and encourages the broken; I want Cinderella to be a courageous adventure who takes compassion to the world. Wherever they go, I want them to live in faith, knowing that God is with them, and as their daddy, I want to live in faith, releasing them at the proper time, in America its 18, and trusting God to watch over His girls, since they belong to Him and have been entrusted to me for 18 years to point them to Him.

I want to live fully alive, trusting God, modeling faith, courage, and kindness, so that my girls have an example of a loving father, a godly man, and a fearless warrior for the Kingdom. I want them to learn this lifestyle, so they don't have to unlearn one that has been damaged by the enemy.

Live life to the fullest for the glory of God.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!