What's The Value of a Reputation?

The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
He takes me to lush pastures,
he leads me to refreshing water.
He restores my strength.
He leads me down the right paths
for the sake of his reputation.

Psalm 23:1-3 

 

 I like to read passages from different versions of the Bible because some offer a slightly different perspective and helps my muddled grey goop to grasp the meaning a bit better (most times).

 

I've told this one before, but it's worth repeating.  My Grampa, once told me that he could tell the weather by watching the cows.  It the cows are standing up, it's going to be a clear day.  If the cows are laying down, it's going to rain.  One day as we were driving along I saw a field of cows and asked, "What does it mean when some of the cows are down and some of the cows are up?"  Without missing a beat, Grampa's response, "Means some of the cows are wrong."  

 

Now Grampa's reputation was on the line because of his claim to be able to tell the weather by the actions of the cows.  His answer satisfied my curiosity and remained in tact.

 

But let's think for just a moment about God's reputation.  If you read through the Psalms (and I challenge you to do just that), you will find that the writer of the Psalms had some horrible, very bad, no good days.  But also had some very good and worshipful days.  But if you look at what God inspired His writers to put on paper, God's has a huge reputation to live up to.  As a matter of fact, if God misses fulfilling even one of His promises, He isn't God.

 

Now, over the last few days, you've read about some not-so-fun days my family and I have had.  Granted, I know there will be more, but I know beyond a shadow of any doubt that God will always provide.  God always finds a way to infuse strength into my flagging spirit and stir a new flame of life where I could only find ashes.  But God does this time and time and time again.  So why do we doubt when we feel drained?  Probably, and this is just my thought, so God can remind us who is REALLY in control.

 

I admit that I'm not much of a "pasture" kind of guy.  I'm more of a beach kind of person.  There's something about the salt air and the sound of the sea that God has gifted with restorative qualities.  And it is during those times when I feel invigorated that I am reminded of Paul's statement in Romans 8:31 "If God is FOR us, who can possibly stand against us?"  You see, God is UNDEFEATED and will forever remain so.

Be Not Complacent!

"Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong."

1 Corinthians 16:13

One of the duties I hated being assigned was Guard Duty.  It came in many configurations such as "Fire Watch", or "Perimeter Watch" but it always meant  the same thing, having to be on the alert while everyone else got to relax.  It that I would be awakened during the night to get dressed (full gear) and report to the Sergeant of the Watch and then came the tedium of watching for a threat we just knew would never come.  Until it did!

I remember one night, we were on a training mission, had dug tandem foxholes and were settling in when our First Sergeant made his rounds to check on us.  He reminded us that to "while your buddy sleeps stay on guard, in two hours wake your buddy up and you get two hours of sleep."  We just knew this was an exercise and nothing was going to happen so we didn't take our First Sergeant's warning seriously.  Next morning, our Captain called us to formation.  There, neatly laid out beside him, were several weapons that had been taken from sleeping sentries during the night.  He told us, "when I call your weapon number, you will step forward and receive punishment!"  

The attacks in France and those in Kenya were devastating!  They were demoralizing!  They have revealed that we face a very real and dangerous threat!  We cannot become complacent if we want to remain safe.  We cannot fall into the sense of "This will NEVER happen to us" because it will come like a thief in the night.

Paul tells us to BE ON GUARD!  
He reminds us to STAND FIRM IN YOUR FAITH!
He calls us to BE COURAGEOUS!
And we are called to BE STRONG!

These are our Marching Orders! Take them seriously!