"Big Stretch"

"Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus." (S.O.S. 7:4)

  Then again, something that might be easy to understand, is sometimes not all that easy to accept; not because it cannot be accepted, but it is just way too difficult to adjust our position to the lesser! There is really no other way it can be explained. If you can accept this, as for what it is worth: your life will be judged more for what you did not do, than it will be for what you did: "Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17)

  In a very interesting way, each of these instruments listed above are used for furtherance. If you are familiar with the word, furtherance is the advancement of a plan or interest; which simply means that you are engaged in what is the plan and are interested in seeing it carried out! If ever there might be something that causes me to hesitate, it might be this one, somewhat mysterious feature: What will happen to my life, and where will I get comfortable, if ever again? 

  Two very familiar issues come to mind, the excuses given for not following Jesus, in Matthew 8:18-22, and the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25:14-30. Both of these instances deal with waste, as in, the chance to be part of the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ. One deals with comfort, the other deals with chance; both involve the same ability to step out into something, much like the children of Israel in the wilderness, when they did not first cross the Jordan.

  Having been in sales for most of my life, I am familiar with the process of stretching out into new horizons; you have no idea what you are capable of doing until you step out and start doing it! It is just a fact of life: you go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you will be able to see further. It is a very practical application for normal goal setting and achieving something that causes us to move ahead, in whatever sort of activity or job that you want to excel in. 

  That said, this is not your average sort of activity! Nothing we do within the kingdom of God has set goals and planning, at least not in the way of the work! The planning is only in us, nothing else is placed between what we can do and what God can do with us, but what we are willing to allow God to do! If only I would have listened, is pretty much a common theme for those that failed to move or do; but there is one small problem, the ears are not your issue, because hearing, you heard, but doing, you did not! 

  I am so so sorry for taking this into something else; but if it makes you feel any better, there is comfort in the end result. Besides, God can use even those that are useless; because somebody needs to clean up after the main events...

"For we don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it's to honor the Lord. And if we die, it's to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose -to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, "As surely as I live,' says the LORD, 'every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.'" (Romans 14:7-11) NLT