I just came in from my morning walk and it was 59 degrees when I started.  That may not mean a lot to most of you, but right now, in East Texas, at 59-degree morning is an unexpected blessing.  We are still bumping 90 during the afternoon, with nightly lows in the high 60s/low 70s.  When I walked out the door, I grabbed my jacket and gladly used it the entire time.

I don’t know how many of you may remember the old song, “Excuses, Excuses.” It was the biggest hit of the Kingsmen quartet in 1981. Since I don’t have the rights to print it here, I’ll just try to explain it. The song was about all the excuses that people give to keep from going to church. The same could be said about telling others about Jesus. It seems that we always have excuses. Here’s my “mock off” of the song.

“I’m persuaded that much of our fear, anxiety, discouragement, and hopelessness is the result of bad theology.” - Paul David Tripp, Everyday Gospel

That sentence from a recent devotional study gave me pause. I never thought of myself as having bad theology, but this statement made me realize that any excuse we have for not obeying our Lord’s command to ‘go and tell’ is the result of not truly believing the God of the Bible.

While I was mowing this evening, I noticed the plants and decided today was water day.  It has been cloudy and cooler (mid 90s) the last couple of days and they are faring better, but the heat will be back.  Then I thought about our lives with Jesus. 

He does not always plant us in the easiest environments.  There are things we all enjoy doing in service to God, but there are other things that are not part of our choice garden.

My sister was born when I was 11. She came along a little later in life for mom and dad. With two older siblings, and experienced parents, she was destined for an extraordinary childhood. She was a toy for my brother and myself. If a baby could remember events from infancy, she could tell you of the time she was lying in my lap, and somehow slipped off onto the floor and bumped her head.