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Photo: FRANK DUVENECK
oil ...Portrait of a Bearded Man...
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What is the most important thing you can do with your short life? It is to please God by doing what He wants.
And God wants us to influence others to do the same. Who would these “others” be? First, my family. As an adult, my spouse and children and later grandchildren are my first responsibilities -- in that order. I must serve my parents and carry a prayer burden for my extended family too. I am also responsible to be a faithful epistle to others. My spiritual flock must be cared for. How can I best accomplish that?
First by fulfilling the two greatest commandments. (Matthew 22:37-40) I must ask God to fill me with perfect love for Him. I prove that love by obedience to His precepts. His Word, the Bible, teaches us what He wants us to do. I seek God in His Word, in prayer, and by walking before Him with a humble and contrite heart.
And the second greatest commandment is loving my neighbor. I love them by praying for them. By giving them no occasion to fall or stumble in faith by my example. And by seeking their greatest good, first to my own household, to those found in the household of faith, and thirdly to others
Often what I do or talk about becomes an amplified priority in the lives of those following me. Is this what I want -- in my children, my grandchildren, or in my little flock of influence? I must not let even good become enemy to the best.
Micah 6:8 He hath shown thee, oh man, what is good and what does the LORD require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.
- Phillip
