Ride For Haiti, part 2, Day 6, Devotion

May 6, 2011

Psalm 71:1,5  “In you O Lord, I put my trust.  For you are my hope, O Lord God;  you are my trust from my youth.”

This morning shortly after Martina and I got started with our ride, something that can quickly become very troubling happened, I lost Martina.  Martina is the navigator.  She has the GPS, the computer and the maps.  Only she knows the route and I just follow where she tells me by walkie talkie to go.  As long as I stay focused on her and listen carefully, we stay together and we arrive on time to our destination.  How did I “lose” Martina?  I took my eyes off of her.  I passed by a 16 screen movie theater and was reading all the different movies that were playing by the time I looked back down the street Martina was gone!  Which means, I’m lost, or  about  to be lost.  It means she turned somewhere and I didn’t pay attention.  She expected that I was paying attention and that I was behind her.  Now we had to take the time to call each other so that I could find  out where she was and rejoin her.

This happens to Christ followers all the time.  This happens to pastors, church leaders, husbands and wives, parents and children, business owners, CEO’s, teachers, coaches, etc.  We are all guilty of taking our eyes off of Jesus and looking elsewhere.  If left unchecked we stopping trusting Jesus and we begin to trust in ourselves, our awesome abilities, training and experiences.  We stop looking at Jesus because we know best.  We stop looking at Jesus and we become impatient, we become domineering and intimidating.  We stop looking at Jesus and we are less forgiving and understanding.  We stop looking at Jesus and we cheat on our spouses and families.  We stop looking at Jesus and we are dishonest and our hearts are hard toward the needs of others.  We stop looking at Jesus and we think it is all about me and it’s not.  WE’RE LOST!  Good  News, glorious news!  There is hope.  Christ died, Christ rose again and in Him we are forgiven and have new life.  So just STOP!  And call out, and find out where God is and join Him there.  He is never  far away!

Prayer:  Father God, I am so sorry that I regularly take my eyes  off of Jesus.  Thank you for your grace.  Help me to get back on the right path and back to you.  Amen.