February 20

“Will you think it hard that He reveals to you more of His mind than He does to others, and that He will not allow you to be happy in anything that separates you from Himself?  Do you want to go where He cannot go with you, or to have pursuits which He cannot share?”  Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, p. 214

Well, Hannah, if you put it THAT way!  She is making her case for the joy of obedience.  So why doesn’t it feel joyful sometimes when I’m faced with choosing what I know God would have me do and what I feel like I want to do?  Hannah is right in pointing out that I really don’t want to go where He cannot go with me.  So why do I?  There can be no answer other than I’m not thinking very clearly for if I was I’d gladly do God’s bidding.  I’m no fool!  Lord, is that why I’m so hard on people who don’t use common sense and end up in some sort of quandary?!  The old adage, “it takes one to know one,” is ringing in my ears right now.  I need to take the log out of my own eye.  The common sense thing to do is choose God’s way over what my feelings may be desiring for me.  With that log out now maybe I CAN think more clearly.

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5