Todays Scriptural Journal Entry

May 18, 2010
Scripture Verse—Psalm 78:7 so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
Observation—The purpose and hope of the faithful. The reason for sharing the story.

Application—It’s human. I caught myself, yesterday and especially last night, very mentally consumed with the new Fit Under the Collar facebook page. Part of that was a healthy and good consumption—thinking of ways to make it better and more useful. But part of it was just stupid—checking often to see how many new ‘fans’ the site had and who they might be. When through the process I ended up in e-mail dialog with none other than—well, a very well-known Christian writer--I had pretty much lost ability to think of much else. I wasn’t completely oblivious though. I knew I was a little too consumed, and so I gave myself permission to be that way with limits—for one day! This morning I deliberately closed out of the site before looking at it. I knew my own devotions had to come first. I thought of my confirmation verse as I memorized it in the old King James Version, “For bodily exercise profiteth little, but Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (1 Tim. 4:8). To enlarge my perspective, I also clicked on CNN and discovered, to my horrer, that Fit Under the Collar was not the top story! Apparently other people were more interested in “Mount St. Helens: 30 years later” and “18 dead in Afghan Suicide Attack” and “Arab-Americans Cheer Miss USA Win” and the obscure headline that totally jolted me out of my self-absorption through its absurdity: “Viagra Keeps Dog Alive.” Yes, there are indeed other things going on in the world. And at the end of the day the goal for the faithful is the same as the Psalmist declared centuries ago: “that they should set their hope on God…”

Prayer—Lord, it’s always refreshing to be honest about myself because, in so doing, I empty myself; that always leads to a whole lot more room for you. Thanks for always being there to fill the void. May my hope always be found firmly and only in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.