Every Square Inch

A couple weeks ago, Pastor Tod's sermon posed the question, "What would it look like if God were running EVERY SQUARE INCH of your life?"
Hmmm...I wondered....what WOULD it look like if God were totally in charge of everything in my life? Would things be different? What would change about my life? What WOULD it look like if God were running my marriage, my parenting, my friendships and family relationships, my free time, my phone calls, emails, to do-list, my actions and words, etc?
I tend to think that I'm doing a pretty good job in my walk with God. I've come a long, long way in the last few years and I feel that I am sincerely committed to God, to studying His word, to being a good disciple of Christ. And then this question comes up, and I am hit head on with my pride and my ego. Yes, I'm doing pretty good, but surely, I started to realize, I still have a lot more to learn and my life still has a lot of areas that I haven't really given over completely to God. I started to see how my feelings of righteousness might start to get in the way of really surrendering to God and giving him control of all areas. Once we start to think that we are doing real good in our walk with God, that we are doing just fine on our own, is when we start to forget how much we need God and his grace. We start to rely on our own strength and wisdom, we start to push or own agenda and make our own list of priorities. This is when we are embarking on trouble. This is when we distance ourselves from God, forget about His agenda and plan and we start be be the God of our own lives. From Tod's question, I realized that while I was making improvements, I still desperately needed to rely on God to run every square inch of my life.
Since I heard this question, I have been rolling it around a lot in my head when dealing with day to day situations. And I've realized that if God were really running every square inch of my life, it would look a lot different. When I have found myself at a cross-road in making a decision, I try to recite "EVERY SQUARE INCH" and it reminds me to try to look at things through God's eyes so that I can make the right choice.
"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Luke 18:14

Law or Love?

My father-in-law and I met for coffee back in November and had a loving debate about religion. We went back and forth over whether it was more important to follow the laws, do right, and be good (his side!) or love God above all else and put the emphasis on your relationship with Him. (my side!)
I was doing my bible study homework this morning and studied this in Matthew. Point for me!!!! (hehe!)

In Matthew 12:
"At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.
Jesus said to them..."I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of the Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!"

When Jesus refers to the scriptures, he is talking about Hosea 6:6, "I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings."

The Pharisees could not see beyond their law's technicalities. They had no room for compassion, and they were determined to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing. Jesus was not condoning disobedience to God's laws, he was emphasizing discernment and compassion in enforcing the laws. The 10 Commandments require the Sabbath to be kept holy. The Pharisees had interpreted that to require a long list of actions that could not be done on the Sabbath, forcing people to rest. But the purpose of the Sabbath is to rest and worship God. The Pharisees had lost the spirit of the law and were rigidly demanding that the law be obeyed. They were so concerned with the religious rituals that they missed the whole purpose of the law- to bring people to God. If we become more concerned with the law, then we will miss God even as we think we are obeying him. When Jesus quotes Hosea, he tells us that our heart attitude toward God comes first. Only then can we properly obey and observe religious regulations and rituals.