What you can’t see in that grainy picture above are the words “Sta in ur bed to nit.”  My son (he is six) put this sign up on the back of his bedroom door after I got after him for getting out of bed at night.  He did it completely on his own and never told us…we only found out by accident.

So today I was taking this picture and he asked me why.  I told him that I really liked the sign.   He said “but it doesn’t work, I still get out of bed”.  I asked him why it didn’t work.  He said “because I don’t read it and I get out of bed”.  Boy that got my wheels turnin’…

A couple of thoughts.  One, I was astounded that he put the sign up at all and that he was really serious (at the ripe old age of six!) about trying to stay in bed.  Second, when he made the comment to me tonight, I told him that maybe he should read it and then it would help.

This is really just a cool story about my son but I can’t help but relate it to how God looks at us.  Don’t we tell God this same thing all the time?  “God I have done all these things but it still doesn’t work.”  I constantly tell him that things don’t work and that I do things that I am not proud of.  His response? Read my Book and it will help.  It’s there, the help is there, you just have to read it.   

I came across an article the other day that made me think hard about a few things.  I have heard the story before but in short, Thomas Jefferson used glue and scissors to cut and past his own version of the gospels.  His bible was called “Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”.  

So what did he cut out?   Well things like all of Jesus’ miracles and oh yeah, Jesus’ resurrection. Nothing all that important.

The article got me thinking:  How many people do the same thing to the Bible but just don’t have the audacity to use glue and scissors?

Scripture says…

…all means all and that’s all all means.

So what parts do you cut out but would never admit to anyone?  I’m thinking about those parts that tell us to love people, put others first, give sacrificially, be thankful for everything (even hard things in life), teach your children, love God with all your heart, mind, soul and with all your strength, trust in God and not yourself,  etcetera, etcetera.

In reality, it is the inclusion of all scripture that makes my life easier.  Taking pieces and parts out always gets us into trouble and sends us down a path God never intended.  The Bible is not like a bunch of pearls that stand on their own. Sure there is value in the individual pieces but really the Bible is much more like links in a chain.  All the pieces linked and adding strength to the whole.

Ever since I sold my Durango and bought my Jetta, I have been really keyed into the whole MPG game.  Well maybe before that too.  Spending more money to just go from point A to point B really burns me up.

Anyway, I stumbled across this concept car from VW recently.  What kills me is that they have had this car for six years but until recently, there wasn’t a market for it.  Bam gas hits $4 a gallon and volia, tiny cars with big mpg’s are hot, hot , hot!!! 

So this One-Liter Car has “a one-cylinder diesel engine producing 8.5 horsepower and 13.5 foot-pounds of torque”.  I think my weed wacker has more power than that.

They show it driving on the highway…but I’m just not convinced.  It looks like a midget car

compared to everything else.  They claim it is safe but…

So what do you think, would you drive one?  Would you drive a tiny car that gets 232mpg?  I couldn’t fit very many car seats in it nor could I even look at my wife while we went down the road.  But, if I only had to spend $30 a month for gas, I think I could really be tempted.

I was listening to a podcast by Francis Chan yesterday and the text really hit me.  It wasn’t that I hadn’t heard it explained this way before but it hit me differently.  In Matthew we read the model prayer. The part that Francis was talking about was “give us this day our daily bread”.  The twist is that the request is not for five days worth or a month’s worth.   Just enough for tomorrow.  Francis went on and said as a matter of fact, DON’T give me too much.  Don’t make me comfortable. ONLY give me just enough.  Enough so that I have to stay close to Jesus and continually rely on God.  Because if you give me more than just enough, I won’t need to ask any more and I will rely on what I have instead of my relationship with God.

Man that kicks me really hard.  How about you?

For me, I know that I live a comfortable life.  I don’t worry about much as far as basic needs.  And so it is easy to move away from the heart of God and lose the impact of what Jesus did for me on the cross.  I have a good job, I have a nice house, my three younger kids and my two older kids bring me incredible joy.  My wife loves me and we have made a happy home together…with our stuff.  To many around the world we would be considered rich.  But I’m scared that the stuff is a barrier and a hindrance to my relationship with God.  I’m not trying saying that owning things is sinful but do I worship my stuff or do I worship Jesus?  How much of the stuff could be taken away before I start to worry and really hate the fact that my stuff is gone?

So here is my prayer:  God don’t make me rich.  Don’t let me desire to be rich.  Don’t let me die rich.  Jesus help me to serve you with the abundance that you have given me, make me understand that you own everything and that I must serve you with every penny, not just the check I put in the offering.