I got a ticket. I rolled through a stop sign on the way to one of our church's monthly prayer meetings (a little ironic, huh?), and the sheriff was sitting and waiting to bust me for it. I was guilty as charged, and there was no denying it. A very expensive mistake.
Having gone to the courthouse to pay my fine, I was given the choice to take a point on my driving record (and a higher insurance rate) or pay some money to take a course of traffic school. Traffic school, here I come!
I chose to do an online course, and it was a pretty painless process. A few hours of reading and some quick tests - no problem.
Wouldn't you know it, what started as a way to avoid paying higher insurance payments actually ended up helping me refocus as a driver. So much of the information that I read was uninteresting or familiar, but, taken as a whole, the traffic school course helped remind me how important it is for me to be serious and careful as a driver. I habitually take control of a massive machine that I control at high speeds in close proximity to other massive machines moving at high speeds. This all becomes very familiar and comfortable after awhile, and it's easy to forget how significant it all really is. My fellow drivers and I make life and death decisions every day, and often don't think much about it.
How much more important is this principal in living life? Don't we all need some disciplined times of being retaught, reminded and refreshed about how urgent and significant living really is? Every human being who wakes up in the morning is used to living life. We go about our business, we interact with other people, and we make it to the end of the day when we lay down to rest before we wake up and do it all again. Familiar. Comfortable.
Ah, but then we sit down and read or listen to the Word of God. We meditate on the real and actual significance of what living is. We hear and think about what our Master said regarding the supremacy of God's kingdom and the immeasurable worth of other human beings. What routine does to dull our senses and lure us into complacency is shattered by sacred moments in disciplined and concentrated learning from our Master through His Word, His Spirit and His Body (the Church).
Take time, brothers and sisters, to be reminded what life and living are really all about. Think carefully and seriously on the significance of your role in God's universe and kingdom. Let Him remind you about the vastness of His love and the immensity of that other person's worth and importance. Cherish the gift of His truth that is constantly available to you.
Dull and complacent just won't do. Laziness and sloppiness are ridiculously out of place. After all, we're disciples of the most purposeful and intentional human being of all: Jesus of Nazareth. We want to be just like Him.
Having gone to the courthouse to pay my fine, I was given the choice to take a point on my driving record (and a higher insurance rate) or pay some money to take a course of traffic school. Traffic school, here I come!
I chose to do an online course, and it was a pretty painless process. A few hours of reading and some quick tests - no problem.
Wouldn't you know it, what started as a way to avoid paying higher insurance payments actually ended up helping me refocus as a driver. So much of the information that I read was uninteresting or familiar, but, taken as a whole, the traffic school course helped remind me how important it is for me to be serious and careful as a driver. I habitually take control of a massive machine that I control at high speeds in close proximity to other massive machines moving at high speeds. This all becomes very familiar and comfortable after awhile, and it's easy to forget how significant it all really is. My fellow drivers and I make life and death decisions every day, and often don't think much about it.
How much more important is this principal in living life? Don't we all need some disciplined times of being retaught, reminded and refreshed about how urgent and significant living really is? Every human being who wakes up in the morning is used to living life. We go about our business, we interact with other people, and we make it to the end of the day when we lay down to rest before we wake up and do it all again. Familiar. Comfortable.
Ah, but then we sit down and read or listen to the Word of God. We meditate on the real and actual significance of what living is. We hear and think about what our Master said regarding the supremacy of God's kingdom and the immeasurable worth of other human beings. What routine does to dull our senses and lure us into complacency is shattered by sacred moments in disciplined and concentrated learning from our Master through His Word, His Spirit and His Body (the Church).
Take time, brothers and sisters, to be reminded what life and living are really all about. Think carefully and seriously on the significance of your role in God's universe and kingdom. Let Him remind you about the vastness of His love and the immensity of that other person's worth and importance. Cherish the gift of His truth that is constantly available to you.
Dull and complacent just won't do. Laziness and sloppiness are ridiculously out of place. After all, we're disciples of the most purposeful and intentional human being of all: Jesus of Nazareth. We want to be just like Him.
