"Give Careful Thought to Your Ways..."

Every "first" Sunday I have the honor of leading the John Wesley Sunday School Class. I say leading, because there is NO WAY I could teach them. They are the "movers and shakers" at FUMC Ozark. Their lesson always speaks to me, but yesterday it hit me over the head !!! The scripture is from Haggai (yes, I had to look it up in the table of contents) chapter one. The verses that have called to me are verse 5 and verse 7; both verses begin with these words, " this is what the Lord Almightly says: Give careful thought to your ways..." (NIV). Verse 8 goes on to say that we have " great ambitions but nothing has come of it" (The Message).



That is me. I am such a procrastinator, full of great ideas (mindflies) but taking action on none ! Just like the Jews in Haggai's day, my work is not very fruitful or productive and I am not making much progress in building my temple for God.



So where does that leave me? Because of the grace of God, it doesn't leave me anywhere. I have meditated on that phrase " give careful thought to your ways" and I believe that God is reminding me that it is time to take action. I have been a poor steward of the resources that God has given me. I don't know where the time goes (not exactly true...I spend alot of time looking for things that I have "put away"), I haven't balanced my checkbook in a year ( not because I have tons of money...no, I live on the edge, writing a check and then checking my balance with crossed fingers !). I neglect my physical "temple" by making poor food choices and exercising sporadically and most important of all, just like the people of Haggai's day, I have good intentions of literally putting God first and abiding in His Word, but I am easily distracted by my own selfish desires.



Yet, God is so good and faithful if we seek Him. He speaks to us if we will just listen. I have often said that if God would just send me an e-mail, I would know what He wants me to do. Well...HELLO ! As I have cruised the internet, I have found a wonderful site http://www.organizedhome.com/ . It is full of ideas for home and life organization as well as a multitude of forms to print to help conquer the monster of mess. God is truly in the details of our lives.

It is time to be a "doer and not just a hearer only"...let the journey begin !