Bishop Wills' Life Journal Entry for June 17, 2008, "The Small Everyday Things"

S: Colossians 3: 6-8 (The Message)
….grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

O: Paul is reminding his beloved Christians not to fall back into old ways of living. In our culture it is easy to let life be shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. Paul wants Christ followers only to live lives obedient to God and the teachings of Jesus.

A: This morning as I look at my own life, I find it easy to say I am doing pretty well at being a follower of Jesus. I do not steal money. I do not commit adultery. I show up to work and do my best each day. I sometimes think Paul’s words are for others. Then comes verses like these this morning.

For me the old way of life is easy to slip back into living. I do not do big things but my sin is in the small everyday things. Paul lists small things in our lives which we must continually work on, or they will pull each of us away from God and living the kind of life Jesus called “abundant”.

These are things like having a bad temper (I was born this way). irritability (I have a right to be that way when things don’t go my way. Profanity (I just say profanity the way my Dad said it when he was upset. It is just the way I am). Dirty talk ( I know devout Christians who talk dirty so it should be OK for me to do the same). For me it is the small things that sneak in my life and begin to destroy the life that God put into me through Jesus the Christ. I must guard my life to make sure the small things of everyday living do not drag me down so my life is guided by things and feelings.

P: Father thank you for this lesson today. Help me to watch even the smallest things in my life and make each word and action a gift to you as a follower of Jesus. Love, Dick

Y: I will watch the small things each day which are not pleasing to God