April 30th
Share your thoughts, comments, reflections and questions on the readings for April the 30th
Joshua 22:1-23:16,Psalm 52:1-9,Proverbs 12:15-16,Luke 19:1-27
“A fool’s way is right in his own eyes,
but whoever listens to counsel is wise.”
We are looking at Lifeshapes at the moment and one of the first shapes we are looking at in our small groups is the Circle. This is all about learning from life and within it is a very important lesson that many of us need to learn – we need others. This is not that way that some of us were brought up and for some it goes against the grain. For others who are introverts a lot of our thoughts and processing is done internally and very little of that may be shared with others. But the Circle teaches us that we need others in two important ways.
Firstly we need others in the process of repentance. In the process of observing and reflecting on the events and situations into which God wants to bring his Kingdom we are fools if we do this alone. Why? Because as the proverb says we can so easily deceive ourselves and think that wrong is right and right is wrong. I know that I am not always the best judge of situations that I am involved in myself and that an external, outside perspective is incredibly helpful, and often vital, if I am to see and understand what God is saying to me in the midst of those situations.
Our Western, individualistic mindset is very far removed from the Hebrew mindset which has it’s roots in the way that God moulded the nation of Israel into his People. That mindset is not individualistic at all. It is based around families, tribes and the nation as a whole. Just look at the reading from Joshua today and we see that. The two and a half tribes built an alter and the rest of the tribes reacted for fear that God would judge them as well. The individualistic mindset is also far removed from the life and teaching of Jesus.
We need others not only in the process of repentance but also in the process of belief. As we see what God is saying to us and where his Kingdom is in the process of repentance we begin to see how our lives need to change and a plan emerges. But how many of us have made New Year’s resolutions that you have not share with others that have either never happened at all or lasted only a few hours or days? I suspect many of us! How many of the New Year’s resolutions that we have shared with others and asked other to help us keep to have happened – I suspect far more. There is something very powerful in sharing our plans with others and asking them to hold us to account for actually doing them. If I know that someone is going to ask me in a weeks time if I have done something I am far more likely to actually do it than if I keep it to myself!
Who is there in your life that you share with in the process of finding God’s way and God’s Kingdom? Who do you give permission to hold you accountable for the plans that you know God wants you to do?