Have you looked behind your oven?

A raw macaroni elbow, cooked noodles from soup, a pill, a rubber band, Grumpy (from Snow White), several dust elephants (the small ones are bunnies and these were much bigger), all of these items were found behind our oven today as I went to clean up the soup that I had spilled. All of these item have piled up over time.

Also, I saw a friend today who said that he wasn't that tight with Jesus anymore. I asked him about it and I could tell right away, that he was ready to leave that conversation. What my friend was doing was dropping things behind his "oven" to be dealt with later. The problem is that those things that we hide behind our ovens grow. They grow from dust bunnies to elephants or worse.

God is ready to gently clean up things if we let him. The earlier that we let him at those things that are behind our oven the better.

I Can Pour My Own Cereal

The other day may eldest child, Cady, who is almost 6 years old made an interesting statement while we were at the dinner table. She stated rather confidently that when she turns six she will be able to take care of herself. My wife had a I gave a out a surprised, "Oh really!" and asked Cady to explain why she thought that she could take care of herself when she turned six. She replied to that question by saying "Well, I can pour my own cereal." and I will add that does not include pouring her own milk without spilling it.

It is amazing the confidence that we can have when we gain knowledge, talent, position, and/or resources. When we gain these, we can forget where these things came from, and we can forget our limitations. These past couple of years have reminded me that God gives me daily bread. That is he takes care of me every moment of every day. Sometimes he allows me to use my own strength to satisfy some daily needs, but I am reminded that if I have strength or resources it is only because God has give them to me.

Take note of the passage below, where the the nation of Israel is warned to remember God when the have prosperity.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Pouring our own cereal is fine, but let's remember who gave us the cereal, the strength to pour it and who will even give us help to pour our milk when we need that.