How do You do it, Lord?
So persistently… day in and day out? With such unfailing, unwavering faithfulness?
How do You orchestrate our steps in such complex and precise ways… so that we cannot miss how clearly You are speaking to us?
Like a fresh cup of coffee, today’s post was “brewing” in me even yesterday. I knew then that today would be the day You would “pour” the words out of Your heart onto my “cup.”
I attended a memorial service yesterday. A beautiful testimony of a life well-lived. A man who was well-known and well-honored in his profession and his community. Well-loved by his wife of many decades, the children they birthed, and the generations that have followed.
As I listened to the many, many accolades shared by those who knew this man best, I began to ponder a deeply profound question:
“What is the real measure of a man?”
Is it his service to his country? His profession and industry? His community? His family? All of these are important, to be sure. Yet all of these can also be so… fleeting.
Professional and industry awards soon collect dust and are eventually forgotten. Communities change over time. Leaders come and go, becoming part of the fabric of history. A fabric of mostly anonymous threads.
Families live from generation to generation. A man who is well-known and well-loved today will one day become a distant branch on an aging family tree. A shadow of days and lives gone by.
So what is the real measure of a man? What can he impart that will really last?
Last beyond his own lifetime? Beyond even the lifetimes of all the generations that follow him? Beyond all the men and women of his “seed” — whose bodies will also return to dust one day… just like his own?
Doesn’t it all boil down to You, Lord? To whether (and how well) we love You, love Your Word, and love others enough to love them toward You?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)
“Fix these words of Mine in your hearts and minds… Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many… as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
“Do you love Me?… Feed My sheep.” (John 21:17)
What meal could be more delicious and nutritious than You, Lord — The Bread of Life, washed down by Your Living Water??? 🙂
These were the things I pondered yesterday. And again this morning, as I opened my eyes and became conscious of the day. I turned on my iPhone to begin our time together with some worship music… and I saw an unexpected message on my home screen. A dear brother-in-Christ had “tagged” me in a Facebook video.
So I clicked on it. And there was my precious brother, Dr. Joe Martin, asking me (and all who would see this video):
“What is a man? And what standard is he measured by?”
REALLY, Lord??? Just last night, as I was pondering these very questions, my dear brother was launching a weekly podcast series to answer them???!!!
AMAZING!!! TRULY AMAZING!!!
The podcast series is called “Real Men Connect.” I listened to the first one this morning and was so blessed, I submitted a five-star review! I hope every man I know will subscribe to these podcasts, Lord, and “live into” the godly wisdom imparted through Joe and the many men of God who will be his guest speakers.
I also hope every woman I know will subscribe. So they (we) can better understand the men we love… and how to help and support them, as they cease to settle for being “good men” and seek to become Great Men — Your way.
http://tinyurl.com/rmcpodcast
And thanks, Abba… for blessing my socks off with another “Divine download” today!!!
Awestruck, yet again… 🙂 !!!
Abba’s Girl