May 30, 2013 - But First....

Good morning Thursday and hello weekend - right? I have a busy schedule coming up and blogs my be scarce after today until June 10th. Please be patient but continue to check. My mom is having a complete shoulder replacement in the morning and I will be in the hospital with her for a few days, then heading to our Youth Camp on Monday to help and preaching there on Wednesday morning. I will drive home Wednesday evening, clean my clothes and fly out Thursday morning to New Hampshire until Sunday night to speak at a women's conference. Praise God I love to be with people and talk about the freedom truths found in the Word. I would ask for your prayers all around. As I read my devotional this morning I was drawn to the first paragraph from Oswald Chambers: "Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.” The scripture he references comes from Luke 9:61 (NIV) "Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” I have read that a million times, but this morning it really grabbed me. How many times do we confess we should get healthy, but there are things we feel we need to return to or complete before we embrace health? I work with so many who comment "I will start working on my health once my family reunion is over." Or I hear people say, "I have a business trip coming up and then I can start." What? There will always be trips, gatherings and obstacles - just like following Jesus. The disciples said we want to follow you, but can we do that on our own time table and in our own way. See that? What is more important that following Jesus? For us, is a holiday food gathering or a business trip more important than being healthy? Do we decided to place a reminder on our phone that being healthy starts following the next holiday weekend in which we have plans to eat and drink beyond the boundaries? Help me. Kathy, I really want and need to be healthy, but first........