Sunday, February 12, 2017

Devotion 2.13.17

I had the privilege Saturday to attend an Eagle Scout Court of Honor.  A friend's son was being awarded the Eagle Badge, an honor that few who are Scouts attain.  Yet the forum included a video by then national president of the Boy Scouts in the United States, Rex Tillerson.  Tillerson, himself an Eagle Scout, talked about the values instilled by scouting and the transfer those values take young men into life.  Imagine, he said, that early in the Scout Oath, young boys take an oath to God and country, and he then quoted Scout Law, a series of words such as "Loyalty," "Trustworthy," and "Obedient."  He then talked about life after scouting in which those worlds took hold and were of value throughout that young man's life.

Imagine that.  Teaching values through activities to our youth that they take into life.  That sounds familiar to us.  In his book on excellence, Peterson talks about aspects of excellence that should transcend our lives.  Unfortunately, we've learned to compartmentalize our lives.  There is church self, work self, family self, and outside of formal organization self, and often times those "selves" do not overlap. 

Peterson uses Jeremiah 7 where the LORD speaks to Israel through Jeremiah to say it's not enough to say, "This is the temple of the LORD," and then return to your life of sin when you leave the temple.  As Peterson speaks of "discernment," that spiritual trait that seeks God's will, the fact is we know God's will, but our nature is foreign to that will (sin).  Consequently, our lives are of substance and image.  The image we project and the substance of our true selves.  Like the Scouts, do we live those values we profess on a Sunday?

Fortunately our hypocrisy has a cure, and it is that of Christ Jesus.  Christ covers our sins to present us holy before the Father.  Pray we strive to lead those lives that are God-pleasing and that we turn to Christ when we fail.

Hope Men's Ministry

No comments:

Post a Comment