Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Matthew 5:48 Sin is not an unfortunate slip or a regrettable act; it is a posture of defiance against a holy God. - Max Lucado There's a good reason why little chores around the house never seem to get done - it's too easy to justify putting them off for just a little longer. Changing the furnace filter? That can wait another week. Cleaning out the garage? Maybe next month. It always seems the bigger, more important chores get most of the attention while the smaller ones keep moving further down the priority list. Yet, if we keep putting off the little things indefinitely, in time we'll reach a point where the cumulative neglect has turned the house into a real mess and everything is falling apart. Eventually, all the little things pile up to a point where we can ignore them no longer. When we reach that point, it's time to grit our teeth, get down to business and perform some much needed spring cleaning. Dealing with sin in our lives is a bit like taking care of chores around the house. None of us are free from the need to battle sin; it is an ever-present, daily struggle to identify and weed out problem areas where we are not living the life Jesus intends for us. The more frequently and diligently we do this, the cleaner our spirit will be. If we neglect this task entirely, it won't take long before we are wading in filth and grime. Most of us do an admirable job of identifying and tackling the bigger sins, even if we don't always win the fight every time. If someone has issues with abusive or violent behavior, adultery or addictions to drugs or gambling, these sins are so overwhelmingly destructive that no Christian could ignore their devastating effects for long. These issues might represent a life-long war where battles are constantly won and lost, but resources are abundant in our churches and communities, and most followers of Christ will do whatever is necessary to bring these behaviors under control. But how are we doing with the little sins? I'm referring to the ones which keep getting put off and pushed down our chore list as we battle for control over the larger and more serious sins. We can procrastinate for a little while, but eventually the combined effect on your spiritual health of these so-called "smaller" sins can cause just as much damage as the larger ones. If we are going to keep our spirits clean and healthy, then maybe it's time for a little spring cleaning. Little sins have two big problems - they are hard to identify and easy to justify. Few non-Christians would think twice about committing these sins and would have little remorse afterward. Not many people seem to think it's a problem to steal supplies from work, cheat on taxes, download illegal software or watch pornography. It's become old-fashioned to wait for marriage before sharing physical intimacy, and we barely notice anymore when someone tells vulgar jokes or uses our Lord's name as a curse. Christians are called to a much higher standard, and we understand intellectually that these are things we should not be doing. However, our culture and media send strong messages about our right to selfish, materialistic and lascivious lifestyles. It is a real challenge to tune out these messages and remember to measure our actions against the standards which Jesus taught, not what society dictates. Like it or not, we exist in a culture which has drastically different values and morals than our own. It's a genuine challenge to keep our perspective. Thankfully, there is an easy test to help us distinguish between what is acceptable behavior for Christians and what is not, regardless of what the rest of the world might think. The simple test is this - consider whether or not there is anyone to whom you would feel compelled to lie in order to prevent them from knowing about your actions. Is there anyone - your pastor, spouse, supervisor or child, whom you would be ashamed to have discover your beh

"If you will only obey me and let me help you, then you will have plenty to eat. But if you keep turning away and refusing to listen, you will be destroyed by your enemies. I, the LORD, have spoken!" - Isaiah 1:19-20 (NLT) Last week as I made my way to the office, I felt a familiar "thud" as the car approached a red light and the automatic transmission down-shifted. It was a symptom I knew all too well, since the same problem three years earlier had necessitated a long and costly rebuild of the transmission. Now with over two-hundred-thousand miles on the odometer and a whole host of other small mechanical problems, I knew it was time to retire this car and start shopping for a new one. My wife and I discussed which manufacturers we would consider and which we would not. We solicited recommendations from friends and family and spent hours on the Internet reading reviews. Finally, we narrowed the list to two manufacturers. Since each had only one model in our price range, we essentially had two cars from which to choose. I test-drove each one and carefully priced them with the options we needed. We considered safety, reliability and fuel economy. We calculated the monthly payment based on the available interest rate and finally made our choice. I went in to the dealership knowing exactly what I wanted and what I was willing to pay, and gave the salesman one of the quickest and easiest commissions he would ever have. Four days after the first signs of transmission trouble, we had signed the paperwork on a new car. As I lay in bed that night waiting to fall asleep, I considered how thorough and efficient I had been in choosing the right vehicle for our family's needs. I had not succumbed to emotion, nor had I impulsively purchased the first good deal I found. No, I had made a very well-educated and informed decision. "What a smart and responsible man I am", I thought. Just then, I heard the small voice which I have come to recognize as the Holy Spirit. He whispered, "You never asked me what I wanted you to do." I immediately felt convicted and ashamed. It was true! During the entire four days, I had not even once stopped to pray and ask God which car was right for us. I never asked for His guidance or assistance. I never even asked God if we should be buying a new car at all. Worse still, I never thanked Him for allowing us to have the ability to buy a new car at a time when so many others are suffering financially. For four days, I never once spoke to God about the situation even though it was the most important issue on my mind at the time. I simply forged ahead, relying on my own limited judgment to guide me. I should know better. In the three years that Delve Christian Ministries has been publishing devotionals, I have written frequently about the need for relying on God, surrendering to His will and allowing Him to be in control of everything we do. Yet, here I had a perfect opportunity to put these concepts into action and failed miserably. As a result, I may never know what God intended to give us or what consequences we might face as a result of not seeking His will. I don't believe that God punishes us each time we wrestle with Him for control over a situation. No, he does something much worse - He leaves us to our fate and permits us to bear the full brunt of all the consequences of our choice. We must not make the mistake of thinking that surrendering to God is something we do once and never again. Total surrender to God is not a state of being which we can achieve and then ignore. It is a moment-by-moment way of living that we must practice every day of our lives. Some are better at it than others, though with practice, each of us can become more experienced at living this way. Yet, even those who have become very good at daily surrender still need to put it into action at every opportunity. We should not think that surrender is an abstract, intangible concept with little practical application to our daily lives. Ever

You shall see neither hook nor line, much less the subtle angler himself, while he is offering you his bait. And his bait shall be so fitted to your temper and disposition, that he will be sure to find advantages within you, and make your own principles and inclinations betray you; and whenever he ruineth you, he will make you the instruments of ruin to others. - Richard Baxter No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. - 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 At Delve Into Jesus, we offer a section of our website where visitors can post prayer requests. In the last few years, I've been overwhelmed and deeply saddened by the vast number of prayer requests for shattered marriages. From this and other evidence we've compiled from visitors, I am firmly convinced that Satan is attacking marriages with a vengeance. While this is going on, Christians remain largely unaware of just how quickly a marriage can fall apart if the couple is not wise and careful, and how devastating it is for everyone involved if the union is not restored. In the vast majority of cases, marriages fail because one spouse is abandoned in order that the other spouse may focus on another lover. That lover is usually, but not always, another person, however it can just as easily be overwork, gambling, pornography, drug addiction or any other sinful passion. Marriages don't fall apart overnight. Rarely does temptation overtake someone suddenly and without warning. There are signs and warnings all along the way that must be willfully ignored if one is to reach that moment when temptation seems too much to bear and life-altering mistakes are inevitable. Few married men, no matter how committed they might be to their wife, could resist the seductions of a beautiful, determined woman in a secluded hotel room. However, it would not be the lack of willpower in the moment that would be his downfall, it would the choice to enter the room with her - a choice that he should have foreseen would lead to a terrible, devastating mistake. The sin of lust has already been committed when a married man has allowed a situation to develop to the point that he is alone in a hotel room with a beautiful and determined woman. At this point, almost nothing could draw such a man away from the power of temptation and prevent him from compounding this sin. Meeting the woman at the hotel would have been the last, but certainly not the only warning sign this man would choose to ignore. At the very moment he felt an attraction to this woman, he should have understood and acted upon that serious warning sign and taken appropriate precautions to never be alone with her. For others, their lover is not of flesh, but takes the form of addiction or gambling. There are abundant warning signs here too, as one descends from casual drinking into drunkenness, or from playing friendly poker with friends to midnight bouts at the casino. The fatal blow to a woman's marriage might come at the moment she bets the couple's life-savings on a spin of the roulette wheel, and here also the temptation to make that bet might have been too much for her to endure. However, the real mistake was to enter the casino in the first place knowing what the outcome could likely be. If we are to resist temptation and the devastation it causes, we have to abandon the notion that we are strong enough to overcome all temptation by sheer willpower. This is naive, proud and dangerous thinking and it denies the reality of how temptation enters our lives. It is not a guest which arrives unannounced or unexpectedly. Temptation usually slides a foot inside the door at our invitation and once inside, rarely leaves until it has been satisfied. Our best defense against temptation is to deny it an invitation. We do this by making decisions, well in advance, about what acti

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2 Tim 1:12 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6:67-68 I have a private pilot's license, but I am restricted to flying only when the weather is good enough to navigate by referencing landmarks on the ground. Although the airplane has very sophisticated instruments which allow for traveling through and above the clouds, pilots are not permitted to fly in these conditions without rigorous training. The reason is that when we cannot see the ground or some other stable reference outside the cockpit, most people slowly begin to get imperceptibly disoriented. In time, our bodies begin to send conflicting signals which don't correspond to what the instruments are telling us. For example, we might feel like we're turning, but the sensation is inaccurate and our instruments will faithfully show that we are flying straight and level. Sadly, without the necessary training, most inexperienced pilots will subconsciously begin to respond to their bodies and not their instruments. Disaster soon follows, and many pilots lose their lives in this way. In our walk with Jesus, it's likewise extremely important to trust the information we know to be correct, especially when we become disoriented in storm clouds and our senses are telling us that we're heading off course. The fact that I am the Executive Director of Delve Christian Ministries and the author of these devotionals should not persuade you that I possess exceptional faith; on the contrary, I am on the same journey of surrender as those whom our ministry serves. I also get "disoriented". On a few occasions over the past decade, I have been on the verge of walking away from Christianity. Those were the times during the journey which were so difficult and lonely that I felt I simply could not go on. My senses were telling me that "this whole religion thing is a waste" and that "it's time to get real". Each time, it was my instruments which allowed me to steer clear of disaster. Once I corrected my course, I found myself echoing Peter's words, "Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life. I believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." I have studied the evidence and have become convinced of the truth of the testimony about Jesus. These are my instruments in the cockpit. I don't just believe that Jesus is Lord - I know it. It has been proven to me beyond all doubt. Thus, whenever I feel disoriented, I can rely on this unchanging foundation of evidence. That evidence is so compelling that I simply cannot doubt where I'm going. It is strong and timeless and is not susceptible to the whim of my emotions. Thus, whenever I wonder how it is that God could possibly exist when I feel so alone or when there is so much pain in the world, I fall back on the evidence of creation, the facts of the resurrection, the fulfilled prophecies and the testimony of the apostles. Whether I feel it or not, Jesus is the way to eternal life. Feelings come and go, but truth never changes. That is why it's so important for me to not only feel God's presence in my life, but also to know and accept all the facts about the life of Jesus which so convincingly persuade me that He is Lord. In those terrible moments when I don't feel that I want to follow Jesus anymore, I am able to stop myself from abandoning my faith when I realize that to reject Jesus is to reject truth itself. Jesus is not a concept or an idea; He is an eternal, unchanging truth. We might be free to reject any number of traditions, customs or beliefs and those would cease to have power over us. However, we cannot make facts go away by ignoring their truth. We would do as well to

I learned an important lesson from my wife early in our marriage. Like any couple, we found that there were always errands outside our home which demanded our attention such as buying pet food, dropping off dry cleaning or returning rented videos. I don't mind driving, so I would often volunteer to tend to these errands outside the home while my wife would take care of chores in the home such as laundry and tidying up. On one occasion, she offered to come with me as I drove all over town. Being obsessed with efficiency as I was, her offer made little sense to me. If she came with me, the trip would surely not take any less time and all that housework would be waiting for us both. If she stayed and did what was needed at home, when I returned we could both relax and spend quality time together. "Why do you want to come?" I asked. "It's not going to be any fun, and then there will be less time for us to relax later." She replied, "I just want to spend time with you." An important realization came to me at that moment. I was only interested in spending time with my wife when it was rigidly planned and involved doing something fun. Conversely, my wife just wanted to be with me no matter if we were shopping, driving or doing nothing at all. In the previous devotional titled "Work Hard, Play Hard", I described the origin of my tendency to be inflexibly goal oriented. When we live our life this way, we tend to segregate our time into those moments which constitute work and those which constitute leisure. We don't like to have any overlap or ambiguity. This can have a devastating effect on our relationships, especially our relationship with Jesus. In this devotional, I want to examine a practical way to ensure that we maintain a balance in our relationships. What I understood from that interaction with my wife is that she does not want to be a priority; not even the top priority above all others. Setting priorities encourages the tendency to segregate and compartmentalize our lives so that we see everything on the list as a "chore" which must be completed. Once we complete the highest priority item on the list, we're free to move on to the next item until our list is exhausted and we make a new one. My wife does not want to be a "chore" that I have to be "done with" before I can move on to the next chore. Even if she is my top priority, thinking of her in these terms fosters the idea that at some point, I need to leave her and move on to something else, and since she occupies a single compartment in my life, she can share with me in no other. Instead, my wife wants to be a partner and companion in all that I do. She wants to be a common thread, present to some degree in all my daily activities, whether she is physically there or simply present in my thoughts. When I decided it was better to do all those errands without her, I was treating her like a priority which I would attend to after all the work was done. When she asked to come with me, she was helping me to see her as something much more valuable than just an item on a list. If we're guilty of doing this with our spouses, then how much more are we guilty of doing this with God? Spending time with God in prayer, reading His word and worshiping with other believers are all extremely important, but you must be aware of your intentions when you engage in these activities. If you read a chapter of the Gospel before bed, does it feel like you can now scratch "read the Bible" off your list of chores? During daily prayer time, do you feel a nagging urge to rush through it so that you can move on to other things? Consider that if you set God as one among many priorities in your life, then obviously you are the one setting priorities, not God. As contrary as it may sound, God does not want to be a priority in our lives. He does not even want to be our first priority. He wants to be the One who sets the priorities. God desires to be our all and everything - the context in which we accompli

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. - Hebrews 10:21-22 The last devotional discussed the topic of forgiveness, but one important aspect was not addressed and that is the issue of forgiving oneself. It would seem that of all the people who have wronged us, the easiest to forgive would be ourselves since we are uniquely able to judge the depth of our own remorse and forgive accordingly. However, that is a misconception which we covered in the previous devotional; true forgiveness does not depend on the wrongdoer's level of remorse. We need to forgive for our sake and for the sake of our relationship with Christ, even if the offender will not even acknowledge the hurt they have caused. Forgiveness is for our benefit, not theirs. Why is it often so hard to forgive ourselves? Being both the wronged and the wrongdoer places us in the awkward position of being able to reject the forgiveness. A thief cannot reject the forgiveness his victim offers since it is not for his sake that it is offered. Yet, we can and often do refuse the choice to forgive ourselves because we are experiencing tremendous guilt and believe that we deserve more punishment. Failing to forgive ourselves is one way to keep the punishment in effect. It is a way for us to martyr ourselves over and over again. The foolishness of this practice should be self evident. What can our self inflicted punishment do to help our victim, or for that matter, ourselves? What good can come of it? It's common to hold on to guilt and shame when we've hurt someone, but those feelings do not come from God. They come from our enemy, Satan. Guilt and shame prolong pain and suffering while providing nothing of value to anyone. They leave us looking back, and while we're busy focusing on the past, it's very difficult to move forward with Christ. Instead of guilt, God requires repentance. These two words mean very different things. Repentance is an acknowledgment of the wrong we have done followed by a commitment to change our ways, but guilt carries no such commitment. Guilt causes us to live in the shadow of our past disgrace, while repentance looks forward in anticipation of God's grace. We know that because of Christ's amazing sacrifice, all our sins are forgiven whenever we call upon the Lord with a repentant heart. God has the most perfect sense of justice in all of creation, yet in His mercy He has decreed that all offenses are paid in full by Christ's blood for those who call Him Savior. In His eyes, we stand worthy to be forgiven. If we fail to forgive ourselves, what we are saying is that we have a more stringent standard of justice than God's and by our standard, we are not worthy of forgiveness. In other words, we know better than God, and though He might decide that it's fine to forgive us, we know better. What does that say about Christ's sacrifice, by which we're reconciled to the Father? What message do we send to God when we will not forgive ourselves? If God forgives our offense, surely we must do the same otherwise we demonstrate some measure of contempt for the cross. We must forgive ourselves as we forgive others and for all the same reasons - so that we can move past anger, bitterness, loss and regret. There is no honor in guilt and there is nothing to be gained in prolonging our punishment. There is no exception in God's laws about forgiving ourselves so we must remember to apply this commandment to ourselves. Never forget that guilt and shame come from the Enemy, so do not give them a foothold. Replace guilt with repentance and begin moving ahead to where Jesus is waiting to continue His walk with you.

For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. - Matthew 6:14-15 "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you". - Lewis B. Smedes Forgiveness is surely one of the most misunderstood concepts in Christianity. Despite the fact that we are all called to forgive as our Father in Heaven forgives, misunderstandings are widespread. In this devotional, we want to broaden your understanding of what it means to truly forgive. As is so often the case, it's easier to consider forgiveness by taking a look at what it's not. First, we have to acknowledge that forgiveness is not an emotion. It is a conscious choice which has nothing to do with how we feel. Forgiveness happens when we choose that we will no longer expect those who hurt us to repay us for the harm that was done. We choose that we will get on with our lives and no longer dwell on the hurt. In past devotionals, we've looked at other, similar choices we are called to make which are often confused with a feeling. These include our choice to love our enemies, our choice to be humble and our choice to be thankful. Forgiveness certainly falls into this category. If we believe that we have to wait for our anger to subside before we can forgive, then we have the issue entirely reversed. The choice to forgive comes first; the soothing of our emotions happens consequently. Forgiveness is not initially about the person who wronged us; it's about us. If we will not forgive someone who failed to meet our expectations, we start to change on the inside. We grow in anger and resentment. The quality of our own life continuously suffers and in this way, we compound the wrongdoing until it becomes something far more damaging than it originally was. One of the most important reasons we must forgive is that we cannot grow into the mature Christian whom Jesus is calling us to be with all that hurt and animosity building up inside us. Forgiveness is that act by which we release ourselves from our own prison of bitterness. Forgiveness does not require that the wrongdoer apologize or is remorseful. It does not even require that they are aware of the fact that they hurt us. All that is required is that we simply say, "I'm letting this go. I will not let this incident change me in any way. I'm getting over it." What the wrongdoer does or does not do should make no difference in our decision to move past it and begin our healing. As we release them from their duty to remedy the harm that was done, we release ourselves from the burden of making them accountable to their responsibility. Forgiveness does not mean that we forget the offense and it certainly does not mean that we need to stay in a relationship with the one who wronged us. If someone hurt one of my children, you can be certain that I would never forget and would never again allow them to be near my children. If it were a friend of mine who did such a terrible thing, then we could no longer be friends after such a violation of trust. Forgiveness does not require that relationships never change. It does require that we move past the incident in our hearts and that we refrain from dwelling on it. Finally, forgiveness does not mean that the wrongdoer "gets away with it" or is "off the hook." It certainly does not mean that we condone what was done to us. Lewis Smedes explains, When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it. " Furthermore, our forgiveness does not prevent us from calling out to God and asking for His perfect justice to be done. A person who steals or murders should face the appropriate penalties under God's laws. Forgiveness changes the reason we desire that they should be brought to justice before Him

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 "...there is no foundation for comfort in the enjoyments of this life, but in the assurance that a wise and good God governeth the world..." - William Law Last year, I wrote a three-part devotional series titled, "Asking God for Help". The main teaching of that series was that we need to ask God for help in all difficult situations, large or small. God wants us to ask and He stands ready to help us, but we have to be prepared to accept His solution according to His timing. He knows how and when to work things out. Asking for help is easy and costs us nothing except a few moments of our time. Most Christians do this frequently and automatically whenever difficulties present themselves, but there is usually a little shade of doubt that their prayers will do any good. We tend to petition God "just-in-case" it might actually help, but in reality, we surreptitiously expect that either circumstances aren't going to work out, or that we are going to have to get the job done ourselves. For the most part, we live as though we believe in an impersonal, disinterested Creator. We understand intellectually that God is in charge, but practically, we go about our business as though He's nowhere to be found and that we're going to have to steer the ship in His absence. We fail to live in the truth of Romans 8:28 because subconsciously, we don't fully believe that God is good. We don't believe that He loves us, nor do we completely trust that He has our best interests at heart. To use a favorite phrase of author John Eldredge, we suspect that God is holding out on us. Why do we hold onto these doubts when scripture is so unambiguous about God's endless love and immeasurable goodness? First, many of our relationships on Earth result in betrayal. We believe that we can't really trust anyone because so often when we trust someone close to us, they let us down. This leaves many of us wondering if we can really trust God to come through when we need Him the most. We especially tend to relate to God in the same way as we related to our earthly fathers when we were young. We unintentionally ascribe to Him the same failings and deficiencies we witnessed in our own father. If our father was not around when we needed him, we expect God to be absent too. If our father was especially strict or had difficulty expressing his love for us, then we expect God to be the same. Relating to God as a loving Father is especially difficult for those whose own father was abusive. Secondly, undermining our belief that God is good and trustworthy is one of the oldest and most powerful weapons that Satan wields. It began long ago in the Garden. "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:4-5) One can almost see the changing expression on Eve's face as she wonders, "Really? Should I not trust God? Did He lie to me?" The Devil will do whatever he can to make you doubt God's benevolence and cause you to ask the question, "Is He holding out on me"? Finally, our lack of trust in God stems from the observation that this fallen world can be so exceptionally evil. All we can do is wonder at the meaning of it, for we lack God's ability to see how all the puzzle pieces are going to come together in the end to form a beautiful picture. For us, the world just seems to be a random, chaotic collage. We cannot see the glorious pattern God is weaving though it all, and so we wonder in the midst of this confusion if He has walked away and abandoned the world to its own devices. How, then, can we overcome our reluctance to trust in God and His goodness? First, we need to understand what is really meant by the phrase, "God is good." What it does not mean is that there is some universally accepted standard of goodness w

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. -Psalm 127:2 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless-like chasing the wind. - Ecclesiastes 1:14 I got my first part-time job when I was seventeen years old, working for a computer store in the small town where I grew up. The owner of the store was a charismatic man named Scott who was, from my limited teenage perspective, very worldly and well-traveled. He was an intelligent, larger-than-life character with strong opinions about almost everything, so I enjoyed the quiet Saturday afternoons we worked together when we would take a break from the world of computers and he would teach me about how the "world" really worked. He would typically start his afternoon lesson with a phrase like, "Here's something they won't teach you in school" or "Let me explain something that almost no one understands". His favorite lesson, the one I remember most after all these years, was to "Work hard and play hard". He explained that most people waste their life by working half-heartedly at menial jobs for eight hours a day and then coming home to nothing more than television and sleep, only to repeat the entire process the next day. Eventually, they wake up and realize they are past the prime of their lives and have not accomplished anything of consequence. For Scott, this was the epitome of a wasted life. He cautioned me to make every second count and never to waste time on anything that wasn't either hard work or serious leisure. His life consisted of long days with almost no time-off for several months, followed by two weeks in the Caribbean at an all-inclusive resort. Occasionally, he would fly to New York or London or would spend a weekend gambling in Las Vegas, but you would never catch him watching television, going out to a movie or hanging out with friends. For Scott, it was all or nothing. He was either working hard or living the good life. Anything else was a waste of time. His philosophy resonated deep within that impressionable teenager and I vowed that I would live a life just like his. For years, I tried to emulate his style, working long hours, taking one course after another, accepting new contracts until I was inundated, all the while refusing any leisure unless it was expensive and impressive. If I took a break from work, even for a few moments, I could feel internal pressure commanding me back to work. The entire time, I could hear Scott's voice in my head rationalizing and urging me, saying, "No one understands this but us. We are the only ones who are living the good life." Except, I realize now, it was never really Scott's voice; it was the voice of the Enemy. It was no life at all. I don't blame Scott, since he fell into the same trap as I did and he believed the same lies about what life is supposed to be about. Fifteen years later, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I see the "work hard play hard" philosophy for what it really is - a perversion of a deep truth. Every successful lie the Enemy tells us is effective because it contains some truth, and the truth in Scott's philosophy is that it really is very important that we make our time on Earth count. The lie is that a good life has anything to do with fourteen hour work days or luxurious vacations. Living a good life is about service to and relationships with God, our family and our community. I have seen firsthand how the "work hard, play hard" mentality shatters all kinds of relationships. In practical terms, if you are living your life this way then every second of every day is accounted for. From the moment you awaken to the moment you fall asleep, you are working or learning. Everything else is an interruption. When it comes to friends and family, you are inflexible, unavailable and unapproachable. Unless the person is a business associate or is accompanying you on your next vac

"Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls." - Matthew 11:29 "All of my ambitions, hopes and plans, I surrender these into your hands. For it's only in your will that I am free" -Robin Mark, All For Jesus In the last devotional, we touched briefly on the idea that we are prisoners whom Jesus has come to set free. In this devotional, I'd like to expand on that idea and explore what it really means to be free. I wondered briefly if we could call freedom the absence of all responsibility, conflict or suffering. I think that's close, but I imagine that a life with no conflict of any kind would be shallow and insignificant and would prohibit any kind of spiritual development. Freedom has more to do with an absence of unfulfilled desires; never having something we want yet which for whatever reason, is always beyond our grasp. I believe this is what William Wallace meant by "freedom" in the movie Braveheart. The liberation of Scotland was his unfulfilled desire, and each cry of "freedom" reminded all his men what they were fighting and dying for. Wallace's pursuit of freedom was noble, but most of us are consumed with less righteous desires for pleasure and enjoyment, fame and fortune or status and recognition. Oh, how these unfulfilled desires cause us no end of anxiety! How will we ever find the money for that vacation? I don't want to do this assignment, but I'll fail if I don't! When will they notice me at work and promote me? What can I do to make her love me? I want to have an affair with that co-worker, but I'll lose my family! This tension robs us of so much peace and joy. One of the great lies of our age is that peace comes from fulfilling each and every desire at any cost, for we suppose that eventually we will fulfill that final desire and achieve the elusive freedom we so long for. People chase satisfaction with such single-mindedness that they don't seem to notice that every satisfied desire provides only temporary relief, for it is immediately followed by another longing which demands our attention. The net effect is that our lives seem to spin out of control as we try to make sense of all the directions in which we're being pushed and pulled, trying to resolve our responsibilities to our jobs and families while also keeping ourselves entertained and contented. Christians are by no means automatically exempt from this, and it can leave us wondering, "Where is the peace which Christ promised?" The truth is that peace comes from eliminating our desires, not chasing after them. I'm not talking about asceticism or temperance. True freedom comes not from suppressing desires, but by being liberated from them. What if we could pursue one single, unambiguous desire which would forever quench all others? Let me paraphrase what Jesus is trying to tell us about peace and freedom: "You're trapped in a prison of unfulfilled desires. You think you can just work harder and harder and that will fulfill more of your cravings until finally you will be free. But that's a trap! You will never find peace that way, only a bottomless pit of worry and disappointment. You think to yourself 'I've got this under control' but you know that's a lie. Let me make you a deal. Surrender yourself to me completely. Stop worrying about everything in your life that you cannot control and simply focus on me. Put me above all else in your life. I will take care of you. I won't promise that you will not have suffering or pain, but I will promise that you will never have to worry about anything ever again because I will be in control. You can trust in my love for you and my ability to care for you. If you will do that, you will have greater peace than you have ever known. But, you have to let me be in control - you have to let it all go and stop chasing after anything but me." Can it be that we find freedom by giving control to another? Yes, absolutely! Can we be free when our only