Are You Like A Dumb Carpenter?

For some time now I've been trying to make sense of several circumstances and situations people that I care a great deal about have gotten themselves into. Here's what God's been teaching me through those experiences.

Every sensible person knows the temptation. The desire that lies just below the surface to do what we know we shouldn’t exists in all of us.

Who wants to be responsible when the right thing is not the easy thing? The impulse to mismanage life, and ignore the consequences of wrong choices, is most urgent when we have to curb our will to do what's right.

We hate limits. We hate to be confined, we want what we want when we want it. And the disgust we feel when we encounter resistance makes us dangerous – to ourselves and others.

Often times we need clarity on God's purposes for His people. We need to be reminded that the scriptures show us how to do what is right.

The scriptures teach us responsibility, and as we work God's words into the fabric of our lives, the Lord empowers us to live it.

Again though…we hate limits, we hate to be confined. The problem is that we want what we want, as we want it. And we live in a society where we can do whatever we want, so who will do whatever is right?

Is there a way to live responsibly?

Maybe you’ve heard the old saying, "Where there's a will, there's a way." I don’t know who first coined that phrase but I bet the intent behind it was to encourage someone to not give up when the going got tough.

And…"Where there's a will, there's a way," sounds much nicer than, "Don't quit just because it's difficult, you little sissy."

It’s time that we learn to bend our will to desire what's right more than what's easy. Every sensible person knows the temptation to do what's easy, instead of doing what's right.

Choosing what’s right when we feel the tug of selfish desire, is our responsibility – yours and mine.

“If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.” - Luke 6:48-49