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Be Careful


          So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. (Deuteronomy 5:32-33) 

          Normally, I would use these verses to suggest that by obeying the law, God will bless you, and that is absolutely true. The prosperity you receive may not be exactly the kind of prosperity you expected but living according to the principles God has given us promotes good health, a solid character, and a strong society. You will not get an argument from me against being careful to do what God has commanded.
         This morning, however, I’m facing a different perspective of this. I wanted to finish the second revision of my novel by the end of June. I have one day left in July, and one ...just one scene left to rewrite. It’s the climax of the last battle, and what’s going through my mind? 
          I’m so tired, I only got up two hours ago, but I want to take a nap.
          I need to do my upper body exercises.
         I should take Grace for a walk and/or play with her, but it looks like rain.
         I need to mow the lawn and weed, but it looks like rain.
         I really should go find the paints, so I can complete the front steps.
          Do we need any groceries?
          The house looks like a tornado got loose inside.
          I need to do the Bible study homework for Thursday.
         I need to get those movies watched so I can get them back to the library. It’s research for a writing project, so it’s good.
         I have to pay some bills and take care of some book keeping.
         I have sewing projects that need to be finished (and others that need to be started so they can be finished.) 
         I want to get through the books I brought from the library so I know what to plant next year.
          I need to write mission Faithwalk post for tomorrow.
          Oh – and let’s not forget my word of the day.
          …and so on, and so on, and so on. And a few of those are necessary (like paying the bills!)
          Some people may snigger at the idea that God commanded me to write a novel – a fantasy novel of all things! – and I admit, He didn’t hand me that directive on stone tablets on a mountain, but not all of God’s commands are in basso profundo with reverb on, “Thou shalt…” or “Thou shalt not…” Sometimes, perhaps often, His commands are a still, small voice whispering, “Here’s the road I want you to take. Now go…” Sometimes, they are even smaller – just a conviction that this is the direction I’m supposed to take. 
          We need to be careful to do what God calls us and commands us to do, not just because it keeps us from being weak, immoral, wicked people, we need to be careful about it because it’s so easy to get distracted with all the other things that demand our attention. Some of them may be important things, but as they gather and scream for attention like a torch-bearing mob, it’s easy to lose sight of what God has called us to do. There are things in my list that can’t wait. There are more that can.

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