The Run of the House...or "Hizzle"

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Colossians 3:15-17

I love the fact that we have some awesome truth around at all times...the Bible...Good Book.... It's got some good stuff to take note of. Take this passage for example...Paul is laying down some crazy simple truth here...keeping others encouraged. Two-thousand years later this applies to today, right now...my life in AV and your life wherever it may be.

We need to allow the peace of Christ keep us in tune with each other. Too often we get hung up on some of the stupidest things...trying to do our own thing. I also love how this is worded...cultivate thankfulness. I looked up this word...cultivate...in the dictionary and it says things like "foster the growth of; to improve by labor, care, or study; further; encourage." (props to Merriam-Webster Dictionary and its presence in my search toolbar)

We need to work at this whole thankfulness thing. We can become jaded...unappreciative of the things, people, and circumstances in our lives. This can lead us to not give God the "props" he deserves. I get caught up in the fact that I have to mow my lawn using a push mower. I have to remind myself everytime...EVERYTIME...that at least I've got a lawn to mow, the lawn mower to mow it with, and the ability to push it around. Thank you God. I also don't think about how much I really love my wife and baby girl until they're asleep and I'm here typing...blogging...reading. I need to be vigilant about making sure that the time that I spend with them is quality...not me just sitting in front of the TV occasionally entering the conversation. Now, that's not usually how I roll...but lately I've been tired and haven't played on the floor with Sarala or had a great conversation with my wife this past week. I need to fix that...and I have to make the decision to do so...each and every time.

Next, there's this phrase in the passage "Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives." I love the wording...have the run of the house. It needs to permeate every aspect of life...from the time I roll out of bed, get Sarala, watch a little Sesame, play, eat, go out into AV, drive, talk on the phone, blog...etc. You get the picture? We need to allow room for this to be present in our daily lives. Not just the weekends. We can fill up our lives with so much crap...I don't understand. I'm trying to make an effort to focus on a few things...do them well, and spend quality time where it's needed. Hopefully some of you are doing that...or will try this all out...being intentional about your time.

There are things that you "have" to do...like breathe, eat, sleep...yes, those require time that "must" be taken. Now, the rest of our days...we really don't "have" to do a whole lot...that's where we need to fix the idea in our minds...that a little downtime is okay...we don't need to fill it up. It can be tough at times...like tonight...being Friday, I figured we should be out doing something. But...Sarala just came off of a fever...and it was nice to just hang out at home...eat a great dinner (ribs) and watch a funny movie (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...which is on in June...?).

This last chunk of the passage just lays it out there...words for good living "Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way." This should be what we use as a filter for how we are going about our day. Are we directing others using good common sense...not always? Do we sing our hearts out to God...as long as no one is looking. Do we truly let every detail in our lives...words, actions, whatever, be done in the way of the master...giving glory to Jesus? Ask yourself these questions and see how your day stacks up against this. Try to do these things for a day and see what happens....

These pictures are a great example of how I feel about how God has blessed me. The fact that Sarala is in my life is something that has definitely cultivated a sense of thankfulness in my day-to-day stuff. Also, these blessings...the ability to go out and play with the dog and child...the weather...the fact that I love where I live...the everything...has caused me to sing...SING to God. And the fact that I get to do it on the weekends using my guitar or whatever...keeps me going. I love it. Have a great weekend y'all!