The Great Heist

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. - Luke 12:39

I got up this morning contemplating what a great day it had been yesterday at the Church on Rogers Street. Sharing the blessing and realizing all that Ephesians 1 informs us about as to our calling, election; that God has chosen us and it is in Him we find our purpose was awesome!

As the old preachers might say, it was a good day in the Lord.

It also got me to thinking. What are the times when you and I are most vulnerable to being caught off guard by the enemy of our souls? When does it seem easiest to go from being the guy God wants us to be and migrate back into the one that no one wants to be around? Let me suggest that one of those times is just after you've had a great victory. Consider Jesus when He was baptized and was about to begin His public ministry. He was taken away into the desert to be tempted by satan.Now I realize you and I are not Jesus. He is a pattern however, His life and trials for what we can expect from an earthly perspective.

Leisure time is another place that satan seeks to take us off our normal routine of personal quiet time, meditation and contemplation. In the normal routine of life, our senses are tuned to the need to draw upon God's Spirit to see us through the activities of each day. However, when we get away from our routine and go on vacation, we can often drop these routines. Whether we do it intentionally or simply change our dance, we wrongfully think that we do not need to spend time with the Lord during leisure times. This is a grave mistake. The vacation becomes a test of character. During vacations we turn freely to what we enjoy from an earthly perspective most. It reveals to us what is at the core of our existence and often that core is not nearly as strong and stable of a structure that we had presumed or hoped to have.

As a ex-teacher I can tell you that we often exchanged thoughts on the hardest challenge we had to students getting in the "learning groove." Whether it was the long summer or the shorter times during holidays during the school year vacations never helped move the learning process forward it seemed. Just when we had brought the students to a certain discipline and place in their study habits, we would take massive steps backward.

It is the same in our spiritual lives. It only takes a small crack in the door of our heart to lose our spiritual focus and impetus.

I know it is late in the game but I hope this summer you will be on guard when times of retreat are made available to you. Use these times for spiritual refreshment, not just physical refreshment, and you will keep the thief from entering your house! I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~