Do you love life?
Do you want to see days where the sun shines and rainbows form from crystals in the rain-blessed sky?
Do you want to see your seeds sprout, your corn grow, the tares controlled, and reap a bountiful harvest of "good" days?
1 Peter 3:10-12 offers some help:
" For whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
I thought about this passage a lot in the last few days. I wondered when I shared the heartaches I had, the brokenness I felt, the misunderstandings and false perceptions of others toward me. Does anyone really know what I desire with the words I use? Is what my tongue utters "evil"? I wonder this because, when I feel no animosity, nor anger in my heart, nor any ire, nor wish no ill-will against anyone, how are my words "evil"?
I think if I do my best to be as forthright, forthcoming and honest with my words, not hiding behind flattering phrases or pacifying language, is that "speaking from deceit"? If not, then what must I do to have better days? Days empty of angry emails, days where the emails do not notify me of canceled subscriptions to my words, days where people are as friendly as the waitress who hopes to gain a tip for serving me. Days wherein folks I know who hold a different opinion than I, find I have not changed my heart, simply because I share a thought or two from my mind. Where are those days if my words are not intent on doing the work of Satan in a faith-based community?
Could it be? Could it be I am in the midst of evil, and darkness and had not seen the forest for the trees of ego-mania and self-centeredness towering over me? Could it be I am in a meadow filled with thistles, tares and poison ivy? Perhaps that is it...perhaps the problem rests in turning away from that attractive meadow of brilliant colors, where stately cactus stand ready to prick the life out of me as I pass through. Perhaps, another path is where I need to turn. I need to get out of the briar-laced thickets. I need to get back on the beaten path, one walked by the saints before me, then "seek peace and pursue it". At all costs. No matter what seeds are carried and implanted around me. Then I will find the "good" at the end of each day. I will find the peace and joy and love by the still waters. And my heart will overflow with God's grace and love. Do you desire "good days", too? Let's see if we can make a few together...okay? selahV
