Tied up in Knots

Most of you know I took up a new hobby last summer with sailing.  I hate to admit that I started sailing before I had proper training.  This summer, we took the time to listen to the seasoned sailors at the club dock tell us more about wind conditions, sail positions, retrieving a "man overboard," and safe docking.

One of the lessons I found I did not know was how to tie good knots.  I learned there are good knots, and there are bad knots.  For a knot to be considered a "good knot,"it must meet three primary criteria:

1. Good knots must have a purpose.
2. Good knots must hold, and not slip.
3. Good knots must be easy to untie.

There are many knots used in sailing.  Each kind of knot has a unique purpose.  Everyone knows the square knot (not pictured).  This is called a reef knot in sailing, and used to reef a sail (tie it up) during a storm.  The bowline knot (pictured above) is used to create a loop in your line (rope).  The loop end of the rope can then be thrown to catch a dock post.  The sheet bend (pictured left) is used to tie two lines together (can be uneven sized).  The clove hitch (pictured below) is used to secure your boat to a dock post.


I loved learning about these knots, and I found myself thinking about the "good knot" criteria, and comparing it with God's word.  Let's review each one in turn.

1. Good knots must have a purpose.
A knot is not considered "good" if it does not serve a purpose.  Interestingly, neither are believers.  Jesus Himself told the disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone," (Mark 16:15 NLT). This is the purpose He gave each of us.

2. Good knots must hold, and not slip.  
What good is a knot if it slips, and the boat gets away?  In the same manner, a believer who is not holding fast to the Word can slip, and fall away.  God told Joshua, "Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do," (Joshua 1:8 NLT).  This is the key to staying grounded in obedience.

3. Good knots must be easy to untie.
This lesson was the hardest for me to understand.  Why would I need to untie a knot quickly and easily?  To sail away from a dock, the line must be quick to loose and throw into the boat, so that the sailor can quickly jump onboard and man the tiller.  A knot may also need to be loosed quickly to avoid a dangerous situation of being tethered to something that could cause a boat to sink.  I thought about believers who are tethered to things that may become unhealthy.  I'm talking about how sometimes the things we hold onto can become idols in our lives.  A believer must be able to quickly loose the things that become idols to keep us from losing our focus.  "And what union can there be between God's temple and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God said: 

'I will live in them 

and walk among them.  

I will be their God, 

and they will be my people.'" 

(2Corinthians 6:16 NLT)  

I should mention it took me three hours to learn to tie these knots in a manner that I could remember later.  I was appalled that I couldn't learn these knots as quickly as I thought I should.  I felt stupid, but that message is for another post.

A Dream about Baseball (??)

I usually don't remember my dreams, but last week I had one that I really don't understand.  I believe it was a message, but I don't know who the message was for.  I don't even like baseball.

The scene opens up with a dad gazing lovingly at his 10-year old son who is sleeping and obviously dreaming.  Dad is able to go into his son's dream to see what he is dreaming about.  He sees his son playing catch with his favorite baseball player from the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright (starting pitcher).  Dad smiles and says, "Son, why don't you wake up, so we can play a game of catch?"  

The son resists Dad and says, "I don't want to play with you.  I want to play with HIM!" (pointing to Adam Wainwright).  He turns away from Dad who keeps on asking, "wake up."  Dad is persistent.  He finally succeeds in getting his son's attention, and gets him to face him.  The son begins to wake up, and they both start traveling to the bedroom where the son is sleeping.  

Suddenly, the dream changes, and the son is pulled back into the dream.  He is angry now at Dad for pulling him away.  Adam Wainwright is now surrounded by other ball players and does not notice the son.  The son looks back at Dad who had followed him back into the dream, and says, "I don't know you.  I know him."  He slowly walks away from Dad and moves toward his idol.  

I woke up watching Dad's facial expressions as his son rejected him.  

I have been reading the Old Testament prophets lately and have realized just how much our heavenly father pursued His people, and how many times His people rejected him.  Over and over, we see God's anger at His people who left, and over and over, we see His mercy renewed.  I can picture our God as the "Dad" in my dream, and His people as the "son" in my dreams.  We are constantly chasing our idols, turning away from our God, and this saddens Him.  He wants us to wake up and be in His presence.  

Won't you give up your idols and turn into His presence?  Open your Bible and find out what God is about for yourself.  Tomorrow is Sunday.  Find a church to attend with your family.

"This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out.

Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed."

~Romans 13:11 (NLT)

Gods At War - Book Review

I have developed an appreciation for the writings of Kyle Idleman.  He is the author of the book, Not a Fan, that I reviewed a while back.  You can check out that review here.  He wrote a new book in 2013 that I just completed, and he is due to publish a new book on March 1.  God has really blessed him in writing and publishing.

The book, Gods at War, focuses on idolatry.  His basic premise throughout the writing is that whatever sins we face or struggle with are not isolated.  They are rooted in our misalignment of priorities.  When we place something into the position of an "idol," we then struggle with it.  An idol is defined as something that attempts to take the place of God in our lives as first and foremost.  Kyle explains that ANYTHING can become an idol and thus a stumbling block in our walk.  A good test to see what consumes our thoughts would be examining our own google search history.  What hits are most frequent?  Are they mostly centered around food?  Are they sexual?  What is consuming your thoughts?  After we do a little thinking and reflecting, there are chapters dedicated to specific idols in our lives.  The last chapter is the one I struggle with the most, the idol of "me."

I found it interesting that even the good things in our lives can become an idol.  I was fascinated with the stories of real Christians who struggled with the specific idols in their lives.  There were stories of denial, fall, repentance, and restoration.  It does not matter what is your idol, what matters is what you do with the idol when you identify it.  God belongs in the forefront of your thinking.  There can be no other "gods" in His presence.  He demands all of you.

Kyle and his father Ken are going to be speaking at the Elders' and Church Leaders' Conference at Lincoln Christian College this Saturday.  I am really looking forward to seeing them speak.  The topic of the conference is "Lead, Follow… or Get Out of the Way."

The first commandment given to Moses was:

"I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.

You must not have any other god but me."

Examine your hearts.  Remember our Lord is a jealous God.  

Puny Gods

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that." ~Captain America

Moses brought the ten commandments to the Jewish people.  The first commandment is very clear.  "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3 KJV)  The second commandment follows the first one very closely. "You must not make for yourself an idol..." (Exodus 20:4a NLT)  God was intentional in his instructions with his chosen people, telling them the first and foremost important thing is to remember God first and to honor Him.  This still applies to the new testament church.  We are to first of all, love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

What gets in the way of loving God first?  I know most of us don't worship other deities.  We struggle with idols that interfere.  What is an idol?  Put simply, an idol is anything (object or person) that we focus on more than God.  This idol becomes what we think about or do all the time.  Some people idolize their work and are consumed with thoughts of increasing power and/or money.  Others dwell on thoughts of a loved one.  Whatever our idol is, we need to take command of it, and put it in its rightful place.  God is first.  Period.

Take a minute and view this scene from the Avengers.  This illustrates how the Hulk defeats what he terms, "Puny God."

Every time I find my thoughts dwelling on an idol, I just imagine the Hulk beating it up.  It's funny, but it works.

"They (Gentiles) demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right." (Romans 2:15 NLT)