January 11, 2007

Good morning! Glorious and great is our Lord Jesus, may his name ever be praised! One of the qualities most sought after in a mate in this lifetime is dependability. We also look for that same quality in our friends and co-workers. One thing you do not want to hear in the back channels of gossip is that someone, whom you are counting on, is not dependable. This is simply another way of saying faithful. It would be even worse to be the one who everyone else warns others about concerning your dependability or faithfulness. In this life, we may have too many jobs or tasks assigned to us, or have taken on too many projects, leaving us victim to that charge of being the one who cannot get the job done. One of the most difficult things to do in this position is to say “help me!” In Christ we are given a heart that wants very much to be dependable and faithful; you might say that our heart is now full of faith! Your boss may not know that you have been overwhelmed unless you tell him or her how extensive the problem has become for you. Now this is not a tactic to “dump work” on others, but rather when you have so many tasks or projects that you do not know which way to turn and feel yourself spinning in place accomplishing nothing, it is past time to let your boss know that something is wrong. I received advice to that effect which, once taken, brought the extent of the problem to light and allowed our team to make adjustments before it became catastrophe.
At one time this kind of advice would have run against the grain of my pride. However, Jesus takes our learned heart and gives us the heart of a learner. Now I would rather treasure the advice of those who know or have been given special insight by God. This is not to say that we stop thinking in Jesus, but that we learn and weigh carefully the advice we receive against the scriptures and our own learning. The accumulation of knowledge is good for us if, and only if, we seek Jesus first. For as Paul says, “...and if I knew all the mysteries of the future, and if I knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be?” Knowing Jesus better and having a close relationship with him is the key to learning how to love. Loving others helps us to listen to them and to consider carefully their advice.
Before we knew Jesus, we were but blind sheep going this way and that. However, in Christ our eyes and ears are opened to the sharing of our insight with each other. Praise God for the love of Christ and his Christ-ones!

Bucky