Wednesday, September 7, 2011

#7 -A Flea Creates A Dog


You can't do it, can you? With your imagination in high gear, you can't picture a tiny flea constructing a living, breathing, barking dog. The task is so far from possible; so unlikely, our human brains can't even dream of such a thing happening. But scientists live and die trying to invent a computer that can do the things our brain does every moment, and 'without a second thought'; without any real effort at all.

Libraries of big fat books and endless compact disks have been published about the indescribable gray matter between our ears. Scientists impress themselves with monstrous words that label parts of our brain, but only show us over and over, how futile; how impossible, to build anything that can even be compared to God's creations – that were spoken into existence. It's a clear bold example of that flea that is trying to create a dog.

We are looking at the journey of Jesus growing in the same journey that you and I have. Along this journey, the medical doctor Luke, is giving us a POWER LIST of attributes that Jesus makes a part of his humanity; his growing. This portion of that power list is grouped as a quartet; a set of four areas of every life that is healthy, God-honoring, full of joy, love, peace, and purpose. That quartet is Mental, Physical, Spiritual, and Social. We'll be seeing their value in producing and progress in our lives.

Our first one is WISDOM or mental. Wisdom is far different than knowledge and data. Our knowledge can tell us, “Oh yes, this is a pencil. It needs to be kept sharp. I need to always remember where I leave it, so I can use it again.” Computers do a pretty good job listing data and knowledge. But knowledge and wisdom are as different as that flea and the dog. Wisdom is knowing the way and when to use that pencil. Wisdom is the partnering of knowledge with love, compassion, preparation, and most importantly – a deep sense of what God's will is for me.

Look again, slowly, that partnership of wisdom, we just listed. None of the 'partners' with knowledge are used or understood by those digital computers we have all around us. It's crucial we keep a careful distinction between knowledge and wisdom, in our lives.

The WISDOM (mental) attribute in Jesus' Power List can be divided into its own quartet. That mental quartet becomes MY THOUGHTS, MY ATTITUDES/MOTIVES, MY MEDITATION, and MY STUDIES.

MENTAL QUARTET

MY THOUGHTS are the basic 'start here' foundation of the rest of this mental quartet. Our thoughts are the bricks with which we form our ideas. A good verse to tie this to scripture is Philippians 4:8.

MY ATTITUDES/MOTIVES are a team themselves. Our attitudes are our value of something, “How much is it worth to me?” Our motives are our answer to why we do this or do that. Often we do things we know we are supposed to do, but we do it for the wrong reason; we don't have the right 'why'.
Link this with God's Word, Proverbs 23:7 and Philippians 1:10.

MY MEDITATION is the process of digging deep with my thoughts. My meditation works hard at sorting out things and putting them in an order that pleases God. The book of Psalms opens with our reference that beautifully nails down what our meditation should be like. Psalm 1:2.

MY STUDIES. No one needs to explain to us that eating the right foods, at the right times and portions are critical to strong healthy bodies. The same thing is true with our minds; our thoughts, and the rest of the mental quartet. Someone once said, “GIGO. It stands for garbage in, garbage out.” It's very simple and powerfully true. What we study, what we read, see and hear all must share the goal of our FULL JOY that is only possible through following an serving the Lord. Like enjoying a tasty food, I always enjoy meditating on the phrase in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, “Study to be quiet.”

Next time we'll see the next attribute – PHYSICAL, on the POWER LIST of Jesus as he grows into and through his teenage years.

(Note: adapted from “The Balanced Life – Youth For Christ (aka Campus Life)