This morning I have to say that I was inspired by the youthful urban Mother's of my church. The Bible tells us that the older generation should serve as an example to the younger generation. The scripture that came to mind today was Ephesians 5:15 which states, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise . . .
I sometimes imagine that we as Christians are like toddlers. We are on our journey through our process of discipleship to follow Christ. We are unsure of ourselves, we hold on to our fears and to the things that we think we know because we are afraid to let go and trust that God has us and that He won't let us fall. We pull up on the circumstances around us instead of reaching out to God. We take a few steps and fall. We give up and just scoot or crawl around. It takes some of us a lifetime to learn to this Christian walk of faith.
How did Jesus walk? He walked circumspectly--that means carefully. He was careful to fulfill the will of the Father and to provide an example for you and I to be able to follow. God has given us His Word, His Son, His Holy Spirit, His power to create. He has told us that we are His own and that we are His friends. He has extended Himself to us and taken care of us; who wouldn't want to serve a God like this? Yet we reject His order, His authority and His leadership. We want nothing to do with the people part of it all. We don't want the cup--we want His will to pass from us and we want to bask in our own will. We hid our agenda behind a shout and a dance, but the fact remains always that God is a Spirit and they that worship Him can only do so in Spirit and in truth.
Paul said to follow me as I follow Christ for a reason. There is an order and an authority to the way that God works. He does not stray from it. So again I respect and give honor to my church mothers today because although they are young, urban, beautiful church mothers, God has blessed them with wisdom from which we can learn. God is teaching them to walk circumspectly and to follow after Him.
Last example for today's thought. We are a nation of now. We want it all now. We do not want to exercise discipline. As a result we amass great amounts of debt that we spend the rest of our lives having to pay or die trying to pay. We cover that part of our lives so that people around us can't see us struggling, but we showcase the new purses, shoes, car and house.
Instead of being after substance we are after a "look" of prosperity. Everything has a cost. Either you can save and pay, which will cost you less in money and will teach you patience and discipline or you can have it now. Having things now means that there must be a premature sacrifice. That means that you're using credit, you're paying money that should be used for another purpose, you're going to have to pay a higher rate of interest, you will not learn the lessons of patience or discipline, which you need to learn any way and which God will bring you back around to eventually. This is why Samuel told Saul simply, . . .obedience is better than sacrifice . . .
God is not at all concerned with you having it your way--Bishop Woods eliquently explained to us that God is not Burger King. Because your way will not lead to eternal life. Your way will not expand the Kingdom. The Bible says, there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death. God wants us to learn to accept His will, His way, His Word, His authority because these things will lead His promises for us. Today let's follow after Christ. Let's learn to walk like Him doing it the way He wants us to in our due season, not prematurely, not pretending to impress somebody, but sincerely to be about Kingdom business.
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