Be Full of Care!

I am spending the weekend praying for students at a area conference in Pittsburgh, PA. The whole conference is about moving away from the things that entice us (sex, money, power) and moving toward Life in God. They are spending the weekend in Deuteronomy 6. Tonight the speaker just spent time in the first 4 verses of the chapter, so I spent most of my day in those verses.

These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD you God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD you God as long as you live by keeping all His decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with mild honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God the LORD is one.

Two ideas that stood out to me today as I was praying. They were "ENJOY" & "BE CAREFUL."

My sweet friend Cindy Holt use to tell her son Jackson as he was leaving the house, "Jackson be careful. That means full of care." I don't know why that has always stuck with me but it made an impact. I take the statement be careful so flippantly. I don't take it seriously.

When I started my prayer time I was feeling hesitant about spend time with the Lord and about coming on the weekend at all. I started reading in the passage and the end of the first sentence grabbed my attention. I normally focus on the adjective long when thinking about life, but today I saw the verb: ENJOY! I was meant to enjoy my life with God. To enjoy the beginning of a weekend spent with Him in prayer. So I asked God why I was not looking forward to time with Him, why was I was not enjoying our time together? After a few minutes I felt a leading to read the passage again.

Then it hit me in the face. "Be careful to obey so that it may go well with you..." These two ideas are linked. Enjoying God to the fullest comes when I am careful to obey Him. The main problem is that I am least careful when it comes to my relationship with God. Grace has won me, the work Christ accomplished in my life, my new creation status (see previous post) makes me abuse my relationship with God. It makes me reckless and lazy, prideful and entitled. It makes me apathetic. This is the stupidest part of myself.

I spent a good part of my week being reckless. It was full, busy, distracted. I didn't spend much time connecting to God. I didn't spend much time putting others before myself. I didn't spend much time being full of care to obey the God who loves me, won me, and is making me more and more like Him.

So I spent some time confessing; washing that gunky week off and then reflected on this question: What are some realities about who God is that would demand me to take more care? I didn't get very far with that thought because the worship team had a sound emergency which I moved toward in prayer, but I want to revisit. I want to be different. I want my relationship with my Creator, my Papa to be THE THING I spend the most energy caring about & enjoying.

I need Cindy to call me each morning and remind me, "Lee be careful. That means full of care."

So help me think through this. What are some aspects of God's character that inspire you to obey Him (and therefore enjoy Him)?