Scripture:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
Thought for the day:
Sometimes there are stops along our journey in faith that leave us wondering where to go next. This story reveals a few of things that I have learned...
One day a young man moved into a cave to study with a wiseman. He hoped to learn everything there was to know. After giving his student a stack of books, the wise man sprinkled itching powder on his student's hand and left. Every morning the wise man returned to the cave to monitor his student's progress. "Have you learned everything there is to know yet?" the wise man asked.
And every morning his student said, "No, I haven't." Then the wise man would sprinkle itching powder on the student's hand and leave. This was repeated for months. But one day, as the wise man entered the cave the student took the bag of itching powder and tossed it into the fire.
"Congratulations!" said the wise man. "You've graduated. You've learned you don' t have to know everything to do something positive. And you've learned how to take control over your life and stop the itching."
As in the story above, we don’t have to know everything to take positive action. There are things in life that need to be accomplish. We can wait or we can work. Perhaps now is the time to take control, stop the “itch,” and get to work.
We can wait to grow our relationship with God or we can work at it. There are prayers that need to be prayed for ourselves and for others, there are scriptures that need to be read so that we may know God’s will for our lives, there people who need to be cared for so that we can experience God’s love in action, there is worship to be attended for the building up of our spirits as we bring glory to God and there are lives to be transformed by the Holy Spirit as we seek to be faithful. Perhaps now is the time to take control, stop the “itch,” and get to the work of God in our lives and in our world.
We don’t have all the answers, but we don’t need all of the answers to embark on a journey in faith. We need only to commit ourself to doing something positive in thanks for the blessings God has given us along the journey.
Prayer for the day:
Heavenly Father, there is a time for everything. A time to wait and a time to work. Show me what needs to be done so that I can work on my relationship with you and become the person you have created me to be. Amen.