Blog Post
Compass Chat: “Checking Out”
- By Thomas Stack
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- 24 Aug, 2015
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For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3
Hotels have check-in times and check-out times; like check-in after 3 PM and check-out by 11 AM. If you have a three day reservation and check out at 10:30 PM in the evening before the check-out time of day three, you are checking out early – but still paying for the full third day. Seems confusing or perhaps unfair, but those are the rules of the business.
When we check-in to the commitment of serving the Lord and belonging to the Body of Christ, His church, we learn that “Jesus Paid It All, All to Him I Owe.” If you arbitrarily decide on checking out early, you suffer loss, the Body takes note of your absence, and the Lord is waiting patiently for you to realize your mistake, check back in and stay put.
When we check-in to the commitment of serving the Lord and belonging to the Body of Christ, His church, we learn that “Jesus Paid It All, All to Him I Owe.” If you arbitrarily decide on checking out early, you suffer loss, the Body takes note of your absence, and the Lord is waiting patiently for you to realize your mistake, check back in and stay put.
Be prepared.
Being prepared is a state of readiness. We have plans. We have supplies. We have contingencies. We have a starting point envisioned. We have thought through the steps or stages necessary along the way. Perhaps there was some investigation or analysis done in advance. We are trying to have all our ‘ducks in a row’ as the saying goes.
But here is a preparation worthy of time and effort: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
But here is a preparation worthy of time and effort: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
Most often, it is in the world of sports where a winner and sometimes second and third places receive a trophy to commemorate the victory just won.
The recipients of the trophies proved themselves better than the rest by virtue of finishing ahead of everyone else, whatever the competition may have been. Fact is; we cannot merit any standing in God’s Kingdom by being better than everyone else. You and I were destined for last place and ultimate disgrace in the trash heap. God’s Grace came our way and made us worthy of a place in His family. And so when God wants to display and commemorate victories won, He can point to you and me and call us “Trophies of His Grace.”
This may mean to you Jurassic Park.
I recall as a child staring up at a rather impressive tyrannosaurus skeleton in Chicago’s Field Museum. Tyrannosaurus means “tyrant lizard.”
There is another old serpent we have to deal with, Satan, the enemy of our souls.
He likes to have us imagine that he is very imposing, like a tyrannosaurus. While he is a threat and dangerous, seeking whom he may devour, we need to remember that the Lord we love and serve has robbed him of the keys to his domain and God has all authority over him.
There is another old serpent we have to deal with, Satan, the enemy of our souls.
He likes to have us imagine that he is very imposing, like a tyrannosaurus. While he is a threat and dangerous, seeking whom he may devour, we need to remember that the Lord we love and serve has robbed him of the keys to his domain and God has all authority over him.
