Writing a few words today, I’ve hunkered down in the warmest place I could find. I’m in the back of the Journey building in a classroom with a door you can close. I’ve been letting the small electric heater do it’s thing. It’s toasty right now and I may need a nap! I arose this morning about 5:30am. It was well before daylight. It was also 3 degrees. Just saying.
This weekend at Journey Community Christian Church we’re taking a look once again in the Bible for helpful advice and guidelines in 2024. We’ve established that the place everyone needs to begin the new year is gaining more of God’s wisdom. The foundational verse for everything Solomon had to say in Proverbs starts here: “Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge… (and wisdom).” Proverbs 1:7a NLT
When we properly fear, respect, revere, and honor God as we ought, the by-product is gaining new insight and wisdom for everyday life.
A few days ago, while sitting in our sunroom, searching the cold wintry landscape with my eyes, I noticed my back fence. My manicured yard butts up against a hayfield with a typical farm fence for cattle. There aren’t any cows there these days but the old rusty, sagging fence remains.
During Spring and Summer my yard and adjoining hayfield cover up a lot of the old fencing and the posts the fence is attached to. Now, in the winter months I notice a single post in the corner that is leaning. I become curious and walk outside to take a look. I see the leaning post is completely rotted at the bottom. The rotted part was hidden until now, dead of winter.
This is my topic at Journey for the weekend. The integrity, or lack of, in family relationships often remains hidden until the darkest, coldest winter months. A husband and wife may appear happy, standing straight and tall, when suddenly the family begins sagging, like my old fence that is coming down.
Solomon warns us about the danger of letting the foundation of a marriage and commitment to God, family, and each other begin to weaken. Sooner or later we begin to find moral failure like fence posts that rot out at the bottom. Without repair and attention, the family is compromised like my old fence that was once standing proud and tall.
This weekend we’ll address the danger in our modern culture of unhealthy relationships needing repairs like an old fence falling down. God wants what's BEST for us and has relevant teaching for families today. Join us this weekend. We’ll have great coffee and some tasty snacks on the Journey coffee bar. Inside you’ll find a ton of support from other families who also need/want a few tips for mending fences at times.
Let’s do this. Building a better fence begins with having strong, solid posts, deep in the ground; strong, anchored corner posts hold everything tight. Jesus is our chief cornerstone, holding us together. Kids and grandkids are all watching adults. They are taking notes for building better fencing in their friendships and relationships with God and people also!
We are better together… family, neighbors, and friends… trying to build better fence lines for every home in the neighborhood in 2024. Go God. Give us Your wisdom.
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