March 12 , 2007

Turn Off The Engine!

Wow. I couldn’t believe it, the ER doctor told me that I had broken my finger. What a shock it was. I’m so dumb I thought. Common sense should have told me to turn off the engine before you go sticking your hand off in there. I was so busy trying to do what I thought I needed to do and move on that I injured myself.

Now lets break this thing on down. In your spiritual vehicle, how many times have we rushed through things to get it done? There have been some Relationship issues that we rushed through, (just don’t want to hear their mouth anymore, RIGHT!!) There have been issues with our Emotional, Physical and Spiritual lives too that we tried to handle or do it real quick and not have to worry about it later. Many times we want to skip past the process. If I had taken a few extra steps and waited a few extra seconds I may not have had to have surgery. Aside from hurting myself I could have hurt someone else.

If you are not careful with the things you do or say you could hurt not only yourself but you could hurt someone else. There are things God would have us to do. A process that we must follow, but one wrong move could cost us not just a finger, but everything. Isn’t that just like God though? Had I turned the engine off the first time my finger would be in tact! After I broke my finger I turned off the engine. He knew already that even though I knew exactly what to do I had to go the long way. He already knew that we were going to try to do it the way we thought it would work most conveniently for us.

Time to evaluate your vehicle! Are there some repairs you can make Spiritually, Relationally, Physically, and Emotionally if you take the time to turn off the engine and take a thorough look?

The scriptural reference for this is Ecclesiastes 3, There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

What time is it in your life? We encourage you to slow down and spend some time this week checking out your vehicle. The vehicle of your heart and your actions, is someone in the E/R because you failed to turn off the engine?

  Weekly Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There's a Right Time for Everything
 1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
 2 -8 A right time for birth and another for death,
 A right time to plant and another to reap,
 A right time to kill and another to heal,
 A right time to destroy and another to construct,
 A right time to cry and another to laugh,
 A right time to lament and another to cheer,
 A right time to make love and another to abstain,
 A right time to embrace and another to part,
 A right time to search and another to count your losses,
 A right time to hold on and another to let go,
 A right time to rip out and another to mend,
 A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
 A right time to love and another to hate,
 A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

For further discussion contact joshlyn@mynewtemple.org or write to us on the message board http://mynewtemple.org/aMessages.html.