It has happened to you...

You are talking with someone about something of substance, a topic you both seem to be very attuned to and their cell phone rings, they interrupt you in mid sentence and begin talking into the tiny all important device as if you were not even in the room.  A few minutes go by as they chat leisurely about what sounds like nothing in particular and at last they glance up and make brief eye contact. "Listen I need to go, I am busy right now..." And of course the first word out of their mouth once they have disconnected is ..." sorry."  Then there is usually an explanation about why they thought they needed to take the call and then ..."what were we talking about?" You resume your conversation and before you know it, either the phone rings again, the waitress comes to the table, there is a parade of small children needing a drink of water, tattling, or needing to be rescued. Before long, you are exhausted with the situation and feeling a lot less likely to try to pursue the conversation, and maybe even a little deflated. 

I sat at my desk the other morning with my Bible in front of me, my email devotionals on the screen, my cell phone on my desk.  I read my "God Calling"... looked up the scripture and read that ... then on to "Girlfriends in God."  All the while there are email subject lines distracting me, flashing ads beside the body of the email, my mind races to what I need to do, where I need to go, what I need to get at the store, where is the money coming from for the bills, what the Lord would have me do, etc... I thought to myself the Lord is talking to me, and I can't hear Him because I am so distracted.  No sooner had the thought gone through my mind when the Lord spoke to my heart.  "The cares of this world keep your eyes off me."  

Much to my dismay, I have heard those words before. At that moment I realized that here I sit, trying to hear from the Lord, and can't even keep my mind on the conversation because I was too busy answering cell phones and chasing children, so to speak.  I am supposed to do something that seems so simple..."cast my cares upon Him" and "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto me" Why can't I ? Why is that so hard? 

  How does HE feel when I can't even take the time and go to a quiet place to be with Him? The Creator of the universe, who never leaves me or forsakes me, who knows how many hairs are on my head, and catches every tear that falls from my eyes.  He attends to my every breath.  He dotes on me because He loves me so much.  Who do I think I am that I can't take my mind off my agenda for a little while to devote to Him, my Savior. To spend quality time in my relationship with Him without having the trivia in my wispy little existence get in the way of just simply being in His presence and immersing myself totally in the glory of His majesty? Why would that not be the first thing I think of when I open my eyes?  How can I get alone with Him?

Turn off the cell phone.  Get up before the kids.  Schedule an appointment for the two of you... do whatever you have to do to get alone with Him, with no distractions.  Spend quality time with the most important Person in your life. If you do...you will never regret it for a minute.  If you don't ... you will regret it for an eternity.

Soul Food

Bees are a social network for the most part, communal in nature, each entity sharing responsibility and reward.  A worker bee focuses on the task at hand, never realizing it's impact on the world in which it lives.  The bee faithfully flying from one blossom to another collecting the life giving food it provides, not only provides food for the colony in which it lives, but ultimately for the fruit in our gardens from which we nourish our families.

Let's think about that concept for a moment. While the bee collects the nectar, or pollen it is assigned to collect, it impregnates the blossom with the pollen necessary to produce fruit in each plant. Without the bee the plant would bear no fruit. But what if the bee were carrying something harmful from one blossom to another...something which destroyed instead of produced? We would be left with only barren vines.

If we were to compare ourselves to bees with regard to the effect we have on the world around us, as we leave words and impressions behind instead of pollen... what impact do we have on the world in which we live?  Do we impregnate those people who are around us with positive, encouraging, uplifting words? Do we leave an impression that causes them to be strengthened, and inspired, to open themselves up to receive the life giving food they need to become and bear spiritual fruit?
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,  and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs18:21

How often do we deposit words of discouragement or discord causing the blossom to wither or close itself to receiving a life altering touch. Do we leave an impression of judgement and superiority to discourage and weaken an already frail vine. How often do we leave them with nothing to nourish their barren souls?

"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit" Proverbs 15:4

Now lets think about another aspect, the bee faithfully collects the food, dutifully brings it back to the hive to nourish the rest of the colony. However, one day, the blossoms from which it has been gleaning it's daily quotas have been sprayed with poison.  The blossoms look the same as they do any other day, but today the pollen is deadly.  The bee makes it  back to the hive, already having been poisoned itself and deposits it's offering into the cell,  contaminating the food supply for the entire colony. Could we compare that scenario to someone in our congregation bringing gossip or ridicule or strife into our midst, the trusted place that we hold sacred where we come for spiritual food?
 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:36-37

Now that we have seen the macro perspective... and the importance of that view, let's take a longer view of the same issues.  Without the bee, the fruit would not be conceived. However, after conception, it must be nourished, and watered and tended before the same fruit can be harvested.

Each step is different for every plant and the conditions differ from garden to garden, from county to county and from state to state in varying degrees.  But the fact is without the watering, and fertilizing, weed pulling and the tilling of the ground... the fruit would not have what it needs to thrive on the vine and never reach maturity and harvest. So the bee could pollinate billions of plants, but without proper care of each of those plants afterward, the only one who would benefit from the bee's efforts would be the bee and it's colony.  But wait, how can this all important bee pollinate our garden, with out first someone planting a seed, and watering it and tending it, for it to come to blossom, so that the bee can feed from that blossom?  Have we come so far only to go back? So it is with the circle of life.  So it is with the Body of Christ, the Church.
"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God's fellow workers: you are God's field, you are God's building." 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

What we contribute bears fruit or barren vines.  What we put in to our food supply affects everyone who eats from it. Each seed that we plant, the manner in which we care for others, directly affects that body, the whole body, the whole Kingdom and how much fruit the Body will produce for the Kingdom... for His glory.  Let us be aware of the seeds that we plant, of the pollen that we spread and the care with which we take in the garden of our lives.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.  And let us not grwo weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:7-10