True confession: I’m ‘that’ person. You know, the one who, once he’s seen a picture hanging askew on the wall, compulsively gets up to straighten it (or, who, given circumstances where repairing the travesty would be inappropriate/unappreciated, must endure the agony of a universe gone awry.) To properly enjoy a good meal, and to avoid indigestion, all the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers must be closed. All other doors in the house, as everyone knows, should either be left fully open or completely closed, never, under any circumstances, left jarringly (shudder) ajar. Once seen, these anomalies are impossible to unsee! More than one person, throughout my lifetime, has intimated: “It must be hard being you.” (to both of you, thank you for understanding.)
The need for this unburdening was stirred up while thinking about what it means to be true. Like, that picture trued on the wall. Straightened. Accurate. Without deviation. Perfectly plumb. The way things are supposed to be. Or, true as in faithful, steadfast, loyal, honest, just. How God’s ideal world should reflect His person. How God’s children should live reflecting Him. How Jesus supremely modeled reflecting the Father. Or, again, by contrast, not how the Enemy of our souls conducts his affairs, how he hisses his dystopian foulness into the air we breathe, into the mindset of culture, into the worldview of the masses. We, as journeyers to the heart of the Father, are called to live out loud the mysteries of God in the intricacies of our messy human condition. We, like salmon, must master upstream swimming techniques. We, unlike lemmings, must avoid rushing toward cliff edges. We, non-stop thinkers all, must capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist they bow in obedience to the Anointed One (from 2 Cor. 10:5, TPT). We, dearly loved children of our Heavenly Father, must, since we are approaching the end of all things, be intentional, purposeful, and self-controlled so that [we] can be given to prayer. We must, above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins. We must be compassionate to foreigners without complaining (from 1 Peter 4:7-9, TPT). We must set [our] gaze on the path before [us.] With fixed purpose, looking straight ahead, ignoring life’s distractions. We must watch where [we’re] going, sticking to the path of truth, and the road will be safe and smooth before [us.] We must not allow ourselves to be sidetracked even for a moment or take the detour that leads to darkness (freely from Prov. 4: 25-27, TPT). Y’all, I’m gonna need a lot of help along the way. There’s an African proverb that says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Maybe we really can do this – together! Rendezvous tomorrow at 10 AM. PD
