Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The Annoying Sounds Need to Stop!

I am sure that you never get annoyed.  Most of us will admit this only to the closest of friends.  Or until we finally crack.

So Mandy and I hear the "chirping" and it finally gets to our limits.   Again I am sure you have never had this experience or will admit it.  I am talking about the smoke detector in the house.  You see when it bites the dust, it reminds you that it is broken or in need of attention.  I am sure my friend, Randy, remembers the call from the parsonage.  I have done everything I know to do---changed the batteries, reset, reposition the unit, prayer, speaking in tongues, cursed---and to make it worse, the unit is wired into the house.  It is not just battery operated.  That sucker is here to stay.....  The alarm is at full pitch and volume.  Lisa, the dog, has run for cover.  In a few minutes, the house alarm will notify the fire department and the "big" alarm will tell the whole neighborhood.  Had I not seen the electric wire connected to the thing, I would have employed the fix it method taught to me by my friend and colleague, J.Roddy Taylor.  The hammer would have come down in three ways--hard, fast, and continuous in rapid succession. 

So there is the beep again.....I have changed the batteries.  I am about ready to get the hammer as this one is NOT wired to the house.  

Are there constant beeps in your life?

There is the constant beep that reminds us that the use of our time is not going so well.   Things that need attention are neglected--family, health, friends.  The urgent is replaced by the not so urgent.  It is a product of our own insecurity.  What will people think if I am not the first one to the office?  What will people think if I ....-you finish the sentence.

We try to convince ourselves the problem is outside of ourselves.  But in reality it is not.  It is within us.  And so is the solution.  What people think will not be important when life falls down around us.  It will not be written on our tombstone. 

What about the constant beep of God's calling?

The interesting thing about this one is that we can disconnect the doorbell or turn down the sound on this one.  We can mute it.  But it doesn't go away.  One of the great pictures of Jesus shows Jesus standing at a door and knocking. It was painted by William Holden Hunt in 1853-54 and is entitled "The Light of the World".  It is based on the scripture Revelation 3:20.    Some people never notice the detail of the original painting.  There is no door handle of the outside.  Later versions of the painting correct the missing detail.  However the intent of the painter was to leave out the door handle.  The door can only be opened by one inside.   Hunt knew that he had been given the ability to shut his mind toward Christ.  Or he could open it and invite Jesus into his world.


What about the constant beep of sin?

Paul knew the struggle when he confessed that he found himself constantly doing the things that were not of Christ over and over again.  It is like hearing the incorrect buzzer of a game show go off in our minds when we fail.  It is God's invitation to fill our life with the holy.  The buzzer is silenced by a new way of living.  God does what we cannot do on our own.

There it goes again......and again.....where's my hammer?

Pray for me as I pray for you.

In the Master's Name,

Dr. M. Jack O'Dell
www.midweekmanna.com
www.stlukesimpson.org

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