May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors. 1 Kings 8:58 (MSG)
My wife and I recently bought some furniture from IKEA. Shopping there is an experience. You walk through the expansive showroom to find the furniture pieces you want and write down the numbers for each piece on a list. You wind your way down to the warehouse where you go through an find all of the pieces to the pieces you chose. We ended up with four things we bought which translated into about 12-15 boxes of pieces we had to fit in our car.
When we returned home to assemble the pieces, I was surprised to find that the instructions had no words. There wasn't a section with written instructions in five different languages. Instead, there were numbered drawings that illustrated how to assemble the furniture. Simple. I like that.
Being a person not given to detailed instructions, I like when directions are given simply and clearly. Perhaps that's why I so appreciated the simple life directive in today's chapter. In one small verse I have a roadmap for the journey:
- Be centered on God
- Be devoted to God
- Follow the life path God has cleared
- Watch for signposts
- Walk at the pace and rhythm God has laid down
I can handle that.
27-32 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood?
Last night at youth group we talked about trials and started a 4 week lesson on Job. We have a small youth group, but some of our young people are dealing with some pretty big trials right now. It becomes more clear when you are in the midst of trial that God is right in your neighborhood. He’s not a neighbor either. He lives in my house. He’s watching out for me and loving on me. That is an awesome and personal God.