Computer screen up, warm house providing a cushion from the cold, and sitting in reflection! The Christmas lights and garland adorning the mantle, our mantle; it is so great to be in our own home after leasing for three years; and a little coffee, tepid temperature, still in the cup. Yes, I am prepped to scribe thoughtful and worthwhile words. You judge the worth naturally!
Every week has a theme, some more poignant than others; and this week thoughts of our tendency to cling to comfort zones, on a wide range of issues, has arisen at several normal daily junctures. By “our” I am thinking of my own heritage of faith. We embrace the Scriptures as divinely inspired words, but do we then take away from it the positions and pronouncements we carry into it?
What does it mean to be open to the Lord’s lead? What does it mean to be convicted by the Scripture? What does it mean to describe ourselves as learners? How serious are we about being challenged each time we open the Scripture? Is it really possible to change what you think?
As I currently preach through the Book of Hebrews which presents difficult Greek; and deep and at times illusive ideas, I find myself reading it over and over looking both for new meaning and a creative way to perform the homiletical (preaching) task. At moments I have more questions than answers and realize what I have to deliver is anything, but a nicely orchestrated message with closure at each juncture. It is as if I will go into the pulpit, open the doors in the minds of the listeners, and step out of the pulpit leaving the doors still open and a cold breeze drifting into the room. How can people possibly be satisfied with that?
Tonight I completed a book asking me to think thoughts which are not comfortable and imagine perspectives altering perceptions I have long held. I’m not resentful toward the author for the disturbance, but I could certainly have lived without it. Yet the question is not about living without it, as in survival. It is about spiritual growth, stretching the heart and mind. That’s the problem with comfort zones they keep you homebound when you could get out and enjoy the outdoors. Do a little yard work. Visit a friend. Jog around the block. Homebound is the experience of the aging, but it is not the preferred journey.
Bottom line, I need to read the Scripture to be transformed and be willing to step out in faith instead of staying home in fear! The goal is not comfort, but conviction; it is not in a sense security, but adventure.
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