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LifeChange, Episode Sixty Five
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Deep and Wide
"Deep and wide, deep and wide; there's a fountain flowing deep and wide. Deep and wide, deep and wide; there's a fountain flowing deep and wide." As a camp counselor many summers ago, I helped sing this traditional chorus-complete with hand gestures. Fortunately or otherwise, today's post comes with no hand gestures. Deep and wide-that's how your life's foundation should be. Deep enough to support a strong, vibrant life; wide enough to withstand the pressures of life common to all. Deep and narrow is just as pointless as shallow and wide: both are recipes for disaster.
God doesn't determine how deep and/or wide your life's foundation should be-you do. You decide how deep you want God's Word to be planted in you, how deep your spiritual "roots" will be. You decide how wide you want God's influence and direction to be in your life. The choice is always yours.
One great thing about living for Christ is that, unlike a natural foundation, you can add to your spiritual foundation. It's never to late to review your life to ensure that you're "built' on a solid foundation of knowing who you are and what you have in Christ. It's never too late to make "construction" adjustments.
Deep and wide; deep and wide. More than words of a chorus, it's a description of how strong our foundation should be, in this life. How deep and wide is your foundation? How would you deepen/widen it?
Some of today's post was taken from LifeChange episode 64, also on our website.
LifeChange, Episode Sixty Four
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LifeChange, Episode Sixty Three
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LifeChange, Episode Sixty Two
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LifeChange, Episode Sixty One
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My Concern With Change
Change. It's a popular word nowadays. A change in seasons, the economy, politics, to name a few. And, of course, one that's been in featured in the news: climate change. Suffice to say change-perceived or otherwise-affects us all. Looking back over the 50's and 60's I've noticed that changes are occurring at a faster rate than I can remember. What used to be seen as "one for the ages" is now, well, just another super invention; just another change. Having a touch-tone phone was once a status symbol. Now consumers expect the latest "G" on their iphones once a year, sooner being better.
Yet, with all this change, I'm concerned. My concern is that society as a whole-even Christians-have embraced change to the point that there's nothing unchanging in their lives, nothing to anchor themselves to. I'm concerned that we've become more concerned about the latest change than the unchanging things of God, which are as true today as they were thousands of years ago.
The Bible is a faith book written by a faith God, through men of faith. Unlike technology, faith never changes; it's constant. Faith in God's Word will work just the same today as it did for Jesus 2,000 years ago, Faith for salvation, healing, and finances hasn't changed over time, because God hasn't. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it's impossible to please God. When the Bible was written it took faith to please God; the same is true today. There's more chance of the devil being nice, than faith changing.
I'm all for change, to a point. My college senior paper was typed on a typewriter. No computers, word processors, or spell check. Computers make for more productive lives now. So, what's my point? I'm saying that, maybe, in our passionate embrace of the latest and greatest change, we've allowed change to distract us from something greater than change. That something is the unchanging truths found in God's unchanging Word, the Bible. Unchanging truths which, when believed and acted upon, change us from the inside out. That's change we can all live with.
How has constant change changed your own walk with God? What steps did you take (or are you taking) to maintain your focus on God's unchanging Word?