Shades of Truth (More of a Reminder for Myself than Anything Else)

I get the weekly devotional from The Project emailed to me, and last week's is one that I want to remember, so I'll publish it here. In the meantime, perhaps it may speak to others as well (all 3 of you who read my blog). :) CS Weirsma will be leaving Millwoods Pentecostal at the end of the summer to be part of a new church aimed at young adults in Toronto. That makes me sad, because I think his sermons are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I'd like to make it to the Sunday night services as often as possible before he leaves. If anyone is interested, sermons can be downloaded by going to mwpa.com and clicking on The Project.

There are systems of thought that are effective at “getting the job done”. Revenge is a powerful motivator. Hate can bring a clarity of thought and purpose. And envy can make you work harder than you ever have before. Of course we also know that as effective as these kinds of thoughts may be, we also know they carry terrible baggage with them. Or at least that’s what we’ve been trained to think.

The trouble is, in our own hearts, it’s not always so easy to categorize our thoughts. “This is envy and I’ve got to stop it” or “This is self pity and it will lead to nowhere” are not the kinds of things we tend to think about the things going on in our minds. But maybe we should.

Your entire life will be an elaborate dance with the subtleties of human nature and the dark shadows of your own heart. It won’t always be these full blown examples of weak thinking that will cost us our potential. More often than not, I think, it’s about the all too hard to detect beginnings of them, and the shades of mixed thoughts we actually tend to think. Envy dressed up as “passion”. Revenge masquerading as “justice”. And hate denied all together, telling ourselves “Just because I forgive doesn’t mean I have to forget.”

Do you know who you are? Do you know what actually holds you from your potential? Do you practice a dressed up version of these thoughts that “get the job done” but will leave you far from where you want to be in the end? Jesus said there are 2 paths in life. The one that leads to life is narrow. That means: hard to find, hard to stay on, and few people traveling on it. Are those the kinds of decisions you are making? (Searching carefully, choosing wisely and set apart).

Just a thought.