James

The other day Pete Wilson, pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville TN, blogged over on his site about a mist worth celebrating. Here is an excerpt from his post.

This morning I was reading in James 4 and was reminded of this important truth.

James 4:14 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

It’s true. We are but a “mist”. In other words, life is short. We’re here and then we’re gone. I could see how, at first glance, this verse might be a bit depressing. But for me it’s motivating.

James 4:14 — My dad and I at Old Westbury Gardens

I couldn’t agree with Pete more. I think about some of the people in my life who have been incredibly life changing to me. I wrote about my dad here, and I spoke about him here. My dad had an enormous impact on my life. I am who I am today because of the way that he loved Jesus and the way that he loved me. I think about some of the people in my life who have been in and out of it only for a few short years. Friends like Chris, & Bob who have mentored me and helped shape my life. There are so many others.

It is easy to think about all of the people who have had an eternal impact on your life. What may be a bit more difficult to think about is what kind of a mist are you becoming? Or what I mean is, who are you becoming, and how are you impacting the lives of others? Do you have someone in your life who you are building into, encouraging, and loving on? If not, you should find someone. Do it fast, because as James says, our lives are like a mist, here and then gone.

Let’s make the most of the time that we have!

~Peter

Building on yesterday’s post about our Senior class and our trip together, I wanted to share with you one particular thought I had while spending time in James. I was sitting right next to this: Hawk Falls, Hickory Run State Park It was about 30+ feet tall in my estimation. It was a beautiful water fall. It was found right along the Hawk Falls trail. We stopped here for our first reading break. I got to James 3 and I read verse 11 and I was just struck again by the simplicity of this illustration yet the depth of it’s intended meaning!

This waterfall was nothing but crisp, cold, crystal clear, fresh water. I expected nothing else to come from it. Had it been hot, that would have been weird. Even weirder would be if it was hot and cold alternating at random times! That would just blow me away. (It’s like when your in the shower and someone flushes the toilet, and then the washer is filling, as well as the dishwasher doing it’s thing… You never know what kind of water you’ll get)

I would be surprised if that waterfall produced anything but that crisp cold water.

Are people surprised when your mouth utters both bitter speak and crystal clear language? Or are we so clear that people can depend on us for encouraging, edifying, clean, Godly language? James warns us about the danger of our language… “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things out not to be this way.” James 3:9-10

Are you consistent? Or do you tend to oscillate between bitter language and clean fresh talk?

Just a thought…

~Peter

What kind of a mist are you?

Spewing Bitter Water

Are you consistent? Or do you tend to oscillate between bitter language and clean fresh talk?