God Needs:

God needs:

Our love

Our respect

Our service

Our praise

Our discipline

Our hope

Our dreams

Our support

Our anger

Our fears

Our trust

Our sacrifice

Our attention

To love us

To guide us

To help us

To mentor us

To be our Father

To support us

To fulfill His dreams for us

To calm our fears

To give peace to our anger

To sacrifice Himself first

We Need:

God

We need to have goals and dreams, for ourselves, family and friends; it is a vital part of being human that God placed in each of us.  We need jobs, homes, vacations, food, transportation, clothing, value, friendship: all off these things are also a part of life.  First though, before all else – we need God.  He needs us, too.

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Sharpen Your Spoon

Is it just me, or does the world want more out of us, but continues to offer less in return? Are we paying more for what was a free service only a few years ago?  Flying is a perfect example of the negative change in the cost to value relationship of so many services or products we use. Flying used to be a luxurious form of transportation: good food, free movies, and big suitcases – a pampered existence for a few exciting hours.  Now, you pay extra to bring clothes to your destination, unless you can squeeze them into a lunchbox sized carryon; if you are hungry, then bring your own food, and if you want entertainment, bring a credit card.  The cost is up and the value is down.  When I was young, ice cream was sold in a 4-quart container; we called it a gallon of ice cream.  Now, since the makers of the ice cream have grown weary of raising prices, they have decreased the amount sold to 3.5 quarts.  Since when is 3.5 quarts equal to a gallon?  Everywhere, we are asked to pay more, and offered less in return – except in our transactions with God.  His cost has stayed the same, and His value has not tarnished.  His gifts are free and the value is immeasurable.  Yet, even with a cost to value relationship so tilted in our favor, the darkness in this world wins too often, so we believers need to do more.  The amount of pain, sickness, and hurt; the abandonment of all things Christian by governments big and small, and the stress of living in uncertain economic and political times, calls us to do more.  We, who believe in God, must dig deeper to help those who do not know how, or where to dig.  We need to sharpen our spoons.

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The Second Sin

Most of us try to be first; first in that “over 40 year old 5K race,” first to get the promotion, first in line at the theater, first on line to buy concert tickets, first to get the view of the morning sunrise, first in your college graduating class, or first to get control of the TV remote.  Being first has been a preoccupation with humankind, from the beginning of the Olympic games where we proved who was best at some sport, to the first to file a patent so we can lay claim to ownership of a design or idea.  It is a natural human condition to want to be first, with a few notable exceptions: the first to die, the first to pay taxes, the first to sin.  The reasoning behind not wanting to die first is obvious, and no one enjoys paying taxes so why do it first?  To sin is to willingly separate from God, so why be first at something so bad?   The initial sin is almost expected, because we all fall short of perfection, but the second sin is by choice – after observing or doing it once, we with full knowledge do it again. So maybe, it is better to be the first sinner, rather than the second. Perhaps the first sin is not the worst, but it is the second sin that we all must avoid.

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