Beware the Bleating Sheep

My uncle is raising goats!

Why? I don't know.

Recently one of his nanny goats birthed three kid goats. From what I understand, while I'm no goat enthusiast, nannies typically birth one or two but can birth as many as five kids at a time. I'm doing good to keep an eye on the one kid I've got at my house.

As his farm continues to grow there is a constant barrage of bleating goats. Seriously, think about it! All that tugging on shirt tails and jumping on the furniture. "Mom, can I have some milk? Can I go outside to play? Billy, won't stop head butting me!"

While I'm sure there are some significant differences between goats and sheep would you please spare a moment to see the implications of the following story?

There was a king named Saul who was given orders by the prophet Samuel to attack and overtake an enemy's land. "Destroy everything! Have no mercy and take nothing for your own personal possession!"

But once the king entered the land, he spared King Agag and kept for himself the best of all the livestock and possessions. "He would not destroy completely" all that was there. And God regretted that he had made Saul the king.

When Samuel confronted Saul, his response was, "I have done all that the Lord has commanded me." And Samuel said, "Then what's this bleating of sheep that I hear?"

You may be asking, "What does this have to do with me? I'm not a goat farmer, king, or prophet?" No, but we're all prone to lie, steal, exaggerate, or simply rebel against what we've been instructed to do; remove anything and everything that stands in the way of God being acknowledged as the supreme being in our lives.

While God has probably never said, "I regret that I ever made you," He does hold a high standard that He expects us to uphold. The problem is that we keep trying to hide the bleating sheep of our disobedience and show our reluctance to follow His command with a dazzling display of livestock. But He hears every form of bleating and inhales the stench of our foul behavior, and He's not pleased.

The bleating sheep represents the pastures of our wrongdoing, our sin. And when God says to destroy everything, He means it. Make no room and have no reservations for what seems acceptable, rational, or justifiable in your own eyes. Bleating sheep aren't worth God's disappointment, anger, or absence in your life; He will not contend forever with the sound of bleating sheep in your fields.

Do you hear the familiar sounds of bleating sheep in your land? Stop pretending! Stop dressing up your secret sins as something God can be pleased with! Quit justifying your actions to do what you want! Kill those sheep!

I know it doesn't sound lovely nor is it saturated with this hyper-grace version of Christianity we've become accustomed to sharing. But God isn't interested in making our lives comfortable; He's interested in making our lives Christ-like. And that requires putting to death every bleating sheep of sin in your life.

Fortunately for us, there was one last bleating sheep, the one that uttered the words, "It is finished!" Do we really even understand the implications of that phrase? "It is finished" removes the need to hide in fear, to embellish our way to some justifiable end, or to build our own monuments of arrogance and pride. And when we behold the prize of His Son we can be assured that He will most certainly be pleased with us!

Follow Through

"L cookie jar!"

While that phrase may seem random and meaningless it has become a resounding phrase spoken time and again in our driveway.

My son has taken to task with playing various sports including basketball. And I'm making every attempt to teach him the proper form of shooting in the most kid friendly way possible; hence the phrase, "L cookie jar!"

With his feet square to the basket, the ball lying on his fingertips with his arm shaped in the form of an "L," we elevate our legs and extend our reach as if we're peering into the almighty cookie jar on the counter. And for the finale of our form, "Hold your follow through!"

Life is no different. We create a plan of what we hope to accomplish. Slam dunks, one handed runners in the lane, jump shots from the corners or off the glass, and even 3-pointers way beyond the arc. We hope to develop the mechanics and formation of some intended result.

We come from a respected family in our community, graduate with honors, attend the college of our choice, begin a lofty career, marry our high school sweetheart, have cute and adorable kids, and start filling the buckets of extravagant vacations, all the while hoping that the retirement account will hold steady as we approach the end of our careers. It's the American Dream!

But just like my son, we can rush through the motions with bad form or become so short-sighted that we forget to hold our follow through. And the end result can leave us watching mediocrity creep in to our otherwise hopeful attempts to excel.

We live in a world that can garner all the necessary information made available through Wikipedia, TED Talks, and YouTube videos to be highly successful but information alone cannot replace commitment. Initiating a plan does not guarantee success or promise its completion.

While this generation is willing to take a stand for many causes and issues, does it have the wherewithal to see it through to the end? Not necessarily making the most noise, creating the most riots, or gaining the most media attention; but simply choosing to do the right thing for the right reasons.

The greatest legacy we can leave is to ensure the social fabric of society has the proper form and follow through for the next generation. While chasing the American Dream is much to be admired, perhaps it's not the greatest accomplishment in life worth pursuing.

I know it may sound silly but what if the lessons I'm teaching my son in our driveway are the most important lessons he'll ever learn in life. Do it the right way, every time, until its complete. Don't quit. Don't take shortcuts. Don't put it off on someone else. Commitment in the face of adversity, choose to stay the course when it's difficult, find meaning in the midst of the mundane.

It's this commitment that leads to a development in our character that makes our Dad proud!

Let's Go Hiking

It's hiking season!

That season of year where flowers bloom, the leaves are green, and we find ourselves escaping the toils and screams of society to enjoy the serenity and beauty of nature.

We take selfies nestled deep in the beautiful landscape of our new favorite bluffs, mountain streams, and waterfalls with phrases like #nobetterplaceonearth or #myheartishappy or #naturesfinest.

Have you ever noticed that some of the most beautiful, most alluring places to journey often have a "No Trespassing" sign posted right in front of your eyes? Doesn't that just burst your bubble?

And life is no different. There are boundaries arranged for our protection but it often looks more alluring than the dull and mundane dusty roads of everyday life. We want to escape toward something more attractive all the while ignoring the signs that we're trespassing into a world full of disappointment and frustration.

While God doesn't always post a "No Trespassing" sign in our midst, He's whispering "Don't go there" all the time. A familiar quote by James MacDonald, "When God says don't, He means don't hurt yourself," has captured the implications of choosing our own path void of the wisdom being served by God's Word.

God's goal for us is to journey through life enjoying the benefits of His blessings without stepping off the cliff of the enemy's attempts to detour our lives in the wrong direction. It's just that sometimes the enemy's voice is more enticing than God's whispers of truth.

Then every time we pass one of those "No Trespassing" signs we snatch it off the dangling limbs leading down the path of temptation and strap it around our necks for the rest of the world to see. And it becomes the badge bearing a new attitude toward those other passers-by on the trails of life.

So when people begin to notice suspicious attitudes such as short tempers and blame shifting we begin to tell them to keep out, "No Trespassing!" It's then that we've learned to take what God meant for good, protecting us from harm by telling us to keep out, and we've re-framed the phrase "No Trespassing" to keep people far away from our deceitful hearts.

God created community for us to enjoy traveling through life together. Unfortunately, when we begin to chart a new course that is leading toward destruction we begin to isolate ourselves from others and refrain from authentic community and accountability.

To fully enjoy the trails of God's creation we must also learn to stay on the course of God's design. Don't ignore the "No Trespassing" signs and guardrails on the paths and highways of life. We will never experience the fullness of the happy life God provides if we continue to ignore His signs or turn a deaf ear to His whispers.