The "eye's" have it!

Isn't God's Word amazing! It will speak to you in new ways each time you read it. God is so good.

I was challenged a few days ago by the Director of Bay Area Fellowship's Men's ministry (MoB - Men Of Bay Area) to join with him in reading through the Bible in one year. I accepted that challenge and God showed me something new today. The thing is, I've read this before, but today it really jumped off of the page at me. It's from Matthew 6:22-23a; Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness.

This scripture is from Jesus' sermon on the mount when he's preaching about money. It's buried within that section between Jesus telling us that we shouldn't store up treasures here on earth and that we can't serve two masters.

But why is He talking about our eyes within this section on money? Is He addressing envy? I'm not sure. Whenever God's Word speaks about our eyes, in the context of what we see, as a man I tend to think it's addressing lust. If that's the case, this scripture would really seem out of place. Or would it? Jesus knew that the love of money leads to all sorts of problems.

I think the point may be that our eyes can lead us in all sorts of dangerous directions and if we love money more than Him then we're much more likely to follow our eyes wherever they may lead.

So maybe that scripture is speaking about lust to me and envy to the next guy. Maybe it's speaking to the person with "stuffitis." Whichever it is for you, and it could be many more issues that I haven't listed, I encourage you to guard your eyes and guard your heart.

I'll give you another scripture to bring it all home for you. I'm sure you've heard part of the second verse before - it comes from 1 Timothy 6:9-10; But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

God's word is so good. I hope this speaks to you in some way.

Enjoy the ride...

No TV???

This just might be more difficult than I thought. It's Jan. 3 and a Saturday. I was gone most of the morning and when I got home for lunch I was exhausted. I just wanted to eat my lunch and sit in my chair and relax. Problem! My daughter wanted to watch TV. Sure I could have said no, but her brother and sister were with their Mom, so she was alone, and I didn't have the heart to send her to the other room. Sure, I could have gone to the other room but I'd been working outside so I didn't want to lay in my bed and the floor is just too hard.

Anyway, this is going to be tough. When you cut out something that takes up so much of your time it can be difficult to find things to fill that time. Plus, if the kids are watching TV then I have to be elsewhere. I don't multi-task well, so I can't sit in front of the TV and do anything else but watch it.

This is definitely a work in progress. I'll get it figured out. I have some projects that need some attention.

I had a bad day with the weight loss thing, also. I exercised but didn't do so hot with my meals. Sausage kolaches for breakfast and a burger for lunch (homemade, so less greasy) and a grilled chicken salad for dinner.

Obviously, it's all a work in progress so I'll keep posting to let you know how things are going for me.

The "Doing life together" post is still in the works. The words weren't coming today. I'll post it when it all comes together.

Enjoy the ride.

New Year, new goals

First of all, I'm not a goal setter. Never have been. At least not in the sense of writing them down and checking them off as I accomplish them. I know, for some of you, this is a big stinking deal. Sorry, it's just not something that I was ever educated about. I was well into my 20s before I ever heard the concept of writing down goals and it has just not stuck with me.

So with that said, I'm going to be posting these few simple goals for all the world to see. Hopefully, this will provide me with some accountability. So here they are in no particular order:

1. Read through the Bible this year. (The director of the men's ministry at my church challenged me on this one so it's not my idea.)

2. No TV (with minor allowances for Extreme Home Makeover, family movie nights, and UFC fights - not the reality show; so I'll get 1 hour a week with occasional bursts to 4 hours.) This is a big deal for me - I've wasted a lot of time in front of the TV. This should free up plenty of time for #1.

3. Drop my weight to 200 - 210 and maintain it in that range. I remember how good I felt at that weight. And at 40, with cholesterol issues, I need to make some changes. (Any help with a diet plan would be appreciated, if it includes burgers that's a plus.)

4. Regular blog updates of day-to-day happenings in my life and on these goals. I should have plenty of time since I'm cutting out (mostly) TV.

God bless all of you. I hope that you had a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

Next post: Doing life together. I started it on 12/2 and I think that I should finish it.

Enjoy the ride...