I draw. Well, I use to. I don’t do it much anymore. I drew all sorts of things: Cartoon characters, real people, I’d even
turn real people I knew into cartoon characters.
One day, in Bible College I
had been working on a masterpiece. It
was a person’s face. I had spent a lot
of time on it. The shading was just
right, the hair had the perfect Pantene shine, the eye’s sparkled…perfect! I
had to step away for a minute and left my masterpiece unattended. Bad idea.
When I got back to start on the body, the masterpiece had been
mutilated, mangled, maimed. Some wicked,
wicked, wicked person decided to add a stick figure body on to my floating
head. “Angry” is a word too weak to
describe how I really felt. I scanned the room to find the culprit. I noticed
this guy trying not to make eye contact and trying not to laugh. Bingo!
I found the masterpiece mutilator.
He thought this was funny! I’m not a violent person. But something about that laughing face of his
was just asking to be smacked (Not every thought that comes across my mind is
the godliest). Did I oblige? No.
Did I want to? Yes, I did!
Paul tells us: 10 For we are God’s masterpiece.
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned
for us long ago. Ephesians
2:10 (NLT)
“Masterpiece” in this verse
is the Greek word poiema. It’s where we get our word “poem”
from. With our life, God is writing this
beautiful poem. It’s His masterpiece,
His work of art. He’s creating
something new of us in Jesus so we can go out into this world and do some good
things. It’s all part of His plan.
Here’s the problem: There is an enemy who would love to ruin God’s
masterpiece. He’d love to write a
destructive stanza, a damaging verse, a devastating line in God’s poem.
He snuck into Adam and Eve’s
poem and ruined paradise for them…
He snuck into Samson’s poem
and ruined the effectiveness of Israel’s mightiest judge…
He snuck into David’s poem
and wrote an adultery, murder, and cover up stanza in it…
So, friend, I want to warn
you: Guard the work God is doing in your
life. Don’t leave it unattended. The Bible says: Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He
prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1
Peter 5:8 (NLT)
The Bible also says: 23 Guard
your heart above all else, for it determines the
course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
Then the author proceeds to teach us how we
go about doing this: 24 Avoid all perverse talk;
stay away from corrupt speech. 25 Look
straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies
before you. 26 Mark out a
straight path for your feet; stay on the safe
path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked;
keep your feet from following evil. Proverbs 4:24-27 (NLT)
The
author is telling us that our mouths, eyes, and feet are like gateways to our
heart. The enemy can ruin your whole
life if he can influence your talk, walk, and vision. So guard your heart!
Comments
Post a Comment