Monday, July 3, 2017

Monday Morning Memo: Zoning Out

We just returned from a 10-day trip, which included a visit with Dan’s brother and sister-in-law in South Carolina, and then to North Carolina to see our daughter, Erica.  It was a great time of fellowship, laughter and good food, which is always a great combination.

I have to admit that when we go on vacation, I really like to be able to just sort of “zone out” and not have to do a lot of thinking (not that I really do a lot of thinking when I’m home either!).  Sometimes though, that gets me into trouble much to the chagrin of whoever is with me.  Unfortunately, this trip didn’t disappoint.  

We got up one of the mornings at Erica’s and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and my phone showed it was the perfect morning temperature so I was anxious to step outside.  Now, this wouldn’t have been a problem if I would have been using my brain, but because I was on “zone out” mode it soon became obvious that we did have a big problem.

You see, there is an alarm on Erica’s front door that has to be turned off as soon as she enters.  I knew that.  What I failed to remember was that if the alarm is set when you are inside, it has to be disarmed before you exit.  Yes, you guessed it.  In my haste to walk outside, I just grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.  I am fully confident that what followed probably raised the dead in the neighborhood.  The most awful, shrill, ear-piercing sound filled the air and since I had no idea how to turn it off, I just stood there with my mouth open.  Fortunately, Erica was home and she came running to my rescue and disarmed the alarm.

There was no denying my error.  I couldn’t act like I hadn’t been the one to open the door and I surely couldn’t pretend that I had turned the alarm system off before I turned the knob.  The horrific sound that permeated every part of our being convicted me of my error.

As you can imagine, this incident woke my brain up rather quickly and I began wondering what life would be like if every time I sinned, an alarm went off for everyone to hear.  What if every time I gossiped…every time didn’t tell the truth…every time I did anything that was against God’s Word an ear piercing alarm went off?  Would I be more conscious of my actions?  Would I be more intentional to follow His laws?  Would it keep me on the straight and narrow or, over time, could I even become accustomed to this terrible sound that I zone out and fall back to my evil ways totally disregarding the noise?

Of course we all know that an alarm doesn’t go off to signal those around us that we have sinned.  We can be living in sin, day in and day out, and no one else may ever know.  At the beginning, we may hear the Holy Spirit in our ear, letting us know that what we are doing isn’t pleasing to God.   But over time, we can often become so accustomed to His promptings that we just disregard His words and continue in our sin.

Tomorrow we are going to celebrate the freedom that we have in our country.  Living in the United States, we are still able to worship and serve the one true God and we should never take it for granted.  We need to take the opportunities that we have to let others know what our God means to us and why we want to serve Him.  But I happen to believe that our words will have a greater impact if each of us is living in a way that is pleasing to God.  If we are actively sinning, I don’t think we will be an effective witness, even if those with whom we share never know of our secrets.  

When we are tempted to sin this week, let’s stop for a moment and pretend that an alarm will go off if we succumb and give in.  Who knows…maybe this pause in our day will give us the courage to tell Satan to take a hike.  The more we do that, the stronger we will become with our God at the helm of our lives.  Then maybe…just maybe…our times of “zoning-out” will be greatly diminished!

 “It is the Lord your God you must follow, 
and him you must revere. 
Keep his commands and obey him; 
serve him and hold fast to him.”
Deuteronomy 13:4

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