The kid is terrified of the dark and can’t get to sleep. “It’s your turn to sit with him until he falls asleep,” she says to her husband. So the father slips into the room, holds his hand and tells him to go to sleep. “I’m here with you; now go to sleep.” Shortly afterwards the child falls fast asleep and the dad quietly gets up and leaves the room. When the child wakes up, his dad is gone.

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Have you ever caved into pressure and acted against your better judgment? You didn’t expect to actually do it or go there or get involved but in the heat of the moment you gave in. Now you have regrets and a bad conscience! Although you didn’t deliberately set clear boundaries for yourself, you figured you’d be able to handle it and do the right thing if the situation ever arose. You thought you could find a way out of it without being embarrassed; a way to put the brakes on and go no further. But things didn’t work out the way you planned.

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Are things not quite like you expected in your Christian life? Yes, you’re saved and you know you’re secure in Christ and your salvation can never be undone and you can not lose Heaven. You know all that. But isn’t there supposed to be more joy associated with Christian living? You ask: “Shouldn’t I be living my life more deeply with greater meaning?”

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What lyrics are pumped through your ear buds into your eardrums? What words travel along your auditory nerve to your brain? What are your frequently played songs? Have you analyzed them lately? Often what we sing about is what we think about and what we think about we sing about. It’s a tight loop.

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Do you have a supply of those little yellow sticky pads for posting notes in your Bible or on your fridge or the dash of your car? What do you use the yellow stickies for? What kind of notes do you write to yourself?

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I know the official line is that ‘heaven is a wonderful place’ but would you ever ‘fess up to having some doubts about how exciting Heaven will really be? Have you ever been to a ‘loooooong’ hymn sing? As much as you enjoyed the hymns, it went way too long! Your voice was hoarse and you wondered: “Why do I always get stuck standing beside someone with a shrill, off-pitch voice?” And that was just an hour! Would it really be exciting to sing for all eternity?

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I know the official line is that ‘heaven is a wonderful place’ but would you ever ‘fess up to having some doubts about how exciting Heaven will really be? Have you ever been to a ‘loooooong’ hymn sing? As much as you enjoyed the hymns, it went way too long! Your voice was hoarse and you wondered: “Why do I always get stuck standing beside someone with a shrill, off-pitch voice?” And that was just an hour! Would it really be exciting to sing for all eternity?

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Eagles soar to lofty heights but they don’t hold the record for flying the highest! On November 29, 1975, a plane flying 7 miles above the earth sucked into one of its jet engines a Rüppell's griffon vulture. Now that’s high! The Apostle Paul soared even higher than that one day. He was caught up to Heaven itself – the place where God dwells. He heard things up there he could not speak about on earth. (2 Corinthians 12:1-6)

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Sometimes I get depressed with myself. Every time I look at myself, my heart sinks with disappointment. I’m not what I want to be; I’m not what I thought I would be and I’m not what I should be. That’s a rather depressing opener. You say: “If it’s that bad, give up while you’re ahead. Pack it in. Call it quits. It can only get worse.” That’s where your thinking is wrong. Am I destined only to get worse? A resounding NO! If you’re fed up with yourself as a failing Christian, you need to know that your lapses and failures will come to an end.

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“So how’s the job going? How are the perks and benefits?” Have you ever regretted asking someone that question? It’s like unplugging a clogged pipe. With force and fury it spews out, almost knocking you over. There aren’t enough words to describe the intensity of their pent up feelings. “Sickeningly stingy! Pathetically mean! Down right cheap!”

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So what thoughts crossed your mind when you flipped through the Fortune 500 magazine in the waiting room? Incredible salaries! Did you drool over some of the luxury items and lifestyles advertised - the clothes; the jewelry; the SUVs and exotic cars; the vacations; the homes and the contented and confident expressions of the people featured in the advertisements? Did you have a momentary desire to be rich? Did your heart beat a bit quicker when you allowed yourself to imagine living like that? Did you see anything that made you think: “If only I could have that, life would be so different.”

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How long have you been in the same place? Do you have any plans to leave or are you quite comfortable right where you are? Sometimes we get stuck at the base of the mountain and fail to move on. We enjoy the scenery. We like the shelter and the shade of the mountain – not to mention its security. Even if the situation is less than ideal, it is often more tempting to stay then to move on. At least where we are, we know what to expect. To move on, introduces us to the unknown and all our vulnerabilities are unmasked.

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Huffing and puffing, tired and exhausted, he slumps on to a bench. He almost lost it. The thing was running like crazy and he was chasing after it, terrified it would run right out on to the street and become history with one belated screech of the brakes. But thankfully his pursuit was not in vain. The tragedy of a lost pet was averted. Have you ever been on such a pursuit when you put everything on the line except your own morals and integrity to save or salvage something that is in jeopardy of being lost?

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“I’d love to give that Levi fellow a piece of my mind but he’s cozy with the powerful Roman Government. I’ll have to keep my mouth shut. He’s got his little tax booth there with his big money chest and all his ledgers. He collects taxes on everything. Road tolls, town dues, imports and exports, taxes on axles and wheels, admission to markets, pack animals, licenses for just about everything. I’m sure he invents taxes and penalties to charge us – just like all the other Mokhes! It’s not just the money that he pockets himself but it drives me bonkers that every time we pass by his booth, we have to unload and unpack everything. Every bale and every package …. Well, he noses his way through everything, even our private letters.”

But recently in Capernaum there had been quite a stir. ....

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Human nature only likes boundaries when they are convenient. So often we want to push the boundaries out of our way, jump over them or ignore them. Did you know that as a Christian you are expected to behave within certain boundaries? So much for laissez-faire, fluid and free-style Christian living! There ARE sides to the box and the Lord expects us to live within those sides. There ARE lines on the page and He expects us to write our lives between the lines. Christ left us a pattern for living and He doesn’t expect us to be creative and come up with a ‘style’ of our own choosing, based on our likes and dislikes and our idiosyncrasies.

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You’re driving by and you spot some of your school friends coming out of a club clasping in one hand their beer and hanging on to their friend with the other. They are laughing their heads off, waving at cars as they pass by, and shouting a few obscenities as they walk down the street. You’re a Christian – but for a few seconds you wonder what it would be like to be having such a good time – letting loose and for once to be totally accepted by school or college friends.

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We can be entertained by a good debate - sharp and crisp exchanges as one tries to get the advantage over the other. Who can stump the other fellow? Who’s the first to get backed into the corner and to look ridiculous? Who can deliver the lethal words that will shut the other up? Who is best equipped to unleash rapid fire, sarcastic put-downs to belittle their opponent? Who has the upper hand in poking pejorative jabs at the other person? Unfortunately we sometimes admire these traits. We listen to people who boast of the way they man-handled a conversation with abruptness, put-downs and smart-alek responses and we chuckle or smile. We almost feel like saying: “Yes! Good job. You’ll make them think after that. You really shut them up. They needed that.”

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You may never be the Commander-in-Chief of the military or the Chief Executive Officer of a corporation. You may never be left in charge of your employer's passwords or the safety deposit box keys. The secret recipe that makes the restaurant where you work so famous may never be shared with you.

But get this: you have a responsibility that far outweighs any of the above!

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“I don’t understand how he could do it. I trusted him. I considered him my friend. I don’t know how many times I confided in him and looked to him for advice. He was my close associate and now he’s stabbing me in the back. He’s become my enemy. He’s taken sides against me and has joined the other camp. I can’t believe the things he’s saying and doing. Is he even the same guy? What’s got into him? He’s completely betrayed me and worse still, he’s actively working and plotting against me.”

King David was hurting badly......

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“It’s so comfortable here. It’s familiar territory. I wake up in the morning and I pretty well know how my day will unfold. Sure, there are always a few little snags and hiccups along the way, but basically my life is predictable and comfortable.”  Maybe that’s how the middle-aged man in Ur of the Chaldees thought too. We like our little boxes. We look to our right and the wall stands tall. On our left the wall is securely standing. In front of us and behind there is a nice square erect wall. We look up and the lid is closed and below is a seeable bottom. Someone peers through the crack in the lid and says: “But you’re confined in there.” “Oh no”, you say – “I’m secure and safe.”

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