Echoes From the Campfire

[Don Adkisson]

Echoes From the Campfire--January 14

"It is important to listen with all the senses, and to feel.  Awareness is a way of learning, too.  In these days to come you must be alive and aware to everything.  Let the days leave tracks upon your memory."              --Louis L'Amour  (The Californios)

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives."                                               --Psalm 37:23 (NLT)                                                                                                                   -----------------------------

I get so tired of the "junk" in the world, our nation, in churches.  Why is it so hard to look at a problem and come up with a solution without working on someone's agenda, especially the devil's?  The bickering in our government has nothing to do with politics, or policy but plain old pettiness.  I guess it has always been that way, and it will until the Lord returns and governs during the Millennium.

In the midst of all the "junk", it is imperative that the believer remain true and is not swayed.  Francis de Sales wrote many years ago that, "True devotion must be sought among many counterfeits."  True devotion is honest, sacrificial love toward God.  It is not something to hype your emotions or something that you conjure up to make you "happy."  But it is a lifestyle that is automatic and actually a part of you.

It is this devotion that helps get us through the "stupidity of life," and the turmoils that rack the soul.  People in the world look at the devoted person with strange eyes for they cannot see that inward love that the believer has for God, nor can they understand it.  It is devotion that transforms the difficult things into joy.  Hmmm, if you were to follow someone, or if someone was to follow you for a day, from your actions, words, deeds, etc., would they know that you are devoted to Christ?

Paul speaks of the devoted life in Colossians (3:17,23) when he says that everything we do should be unto the Lord.  Therefore, true devotion never interferes with earning a living; it makes your work more effective.  If you are truly working for the Lord, then everything you do will be your best effort, and thus that will transfer to the work for your employer.  It is never--just get by, or good enough for government work.  If you are working for the Lord, every job you do will be more enjoyable.  I've heard that 85% of the people do not enjoy their work.  That is a shame.

Sure there are times when we might not enjoy the work or the job given to us.  There are times when we might have to sacrifice what we want for family.  However!  Even in those instances or circumstances we should be joyful at work and work at it if for no other reason than the fact that we are actually working for the Lord.  If we truly believe His Word, we should recognize that the steps of the righteous are ordered by Him.  Take that thought to work with you today.  Let the day, the experience leave "tracks upon your memory."

D.C. Adkisson