The child learns to speak because his father speaks to him. He learns the speech of his father. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken to us and speaks to us. By means of the speech of the Father in heaven His children learn to speak with Him. Repeating God’s own words after Him, we begin to pray to Him.
D. Bonhoeffer
For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.
Luke 12:12
Ah… the dreaded old budget…Some days it grows closer to the red than staying in the black. I certainly do not like it and can feel worried. I start wondering how I can fix it, maybe go back to the way I used manage the budget. I have tried to figure out what I can do better, and after careful consideration I realize how much inflation has swarmed in and it’s not me! Whew!
Lately I have thought I need to return to some former methods in my life. They were easier; they were well-known and simply more comfortable. However, at the same time this stresses me out. If I ever want to move forward, which I do, I cannot return to old patterns and thought processes. Besides it is not what God wants. I do have obligations and responsibilities that need to be tended to but there are fresh ones on the horizon. In ordered to be prepared I have to stop looking back to what was comfortable, proven and already known.
While I am stuck between these two gates I need to learn the balance of current obligations while preparing for new ones and not revert back to the previous. It is a difficult task for me. I am good at creating successful structures. But as I read the Word, Jesus was quite stern on this matter. He said; Let the dead bury the dead. A strong statement; that which does not have value in my life now, no longer needs consideration even if it was not unrighteous or harmful. I do not need to spend time covering it, tending to it or putting it to rest. It is time to move forward.
Jesus said; Looking back is not fit for the Kingdom. What a frightening thought! I have to be more than unwavering and make a greater effort to not let my thoughts or vision slip backward. I want to be; no I have to be, fit for the Kingdom. I cannot be a lazy, flabby, lukewarm Christian. In my natural life, being fit takes discipline, determination, desire and old fashioned hard work. This is true in my spiritual life as well. So I am choosing this one!
Besides looking back didn’t really work out for Lot’s wife…
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God. Luke 9:62
Letters from Lilies 