How to Destroy Your Life

Today's reading:

• Proverbs 18:9 -- One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.

Thoughts:
This verse is not only talking about our jobs and careers. It's talking about doing what needs to be done.

Whether at work or at home or in volunteer settings, what is important about our tasks is not how much time we put into them. What is important about our tasks is that we finish them.

If we don't wash the dishes, we don't have a clean place for our food.

If we don't change the sheets, we don't have a clean place to sleep.

If we don't wash our clothes, we don't have anything clean to wear and we stink like crazy.

If we don't care for our pets (or worse, our children), they get sick and sometimes worse.

If we don't maintain our homes, they rot and repairs cost outrageous amounts of moolah.

If we don't communicate with our spouses, trust erodes.

And at work, if we find ourselves "getting behind," there are only a few possible reasons: either we have not spent our work hours well, or we have accepted responsibility for tasks that we can't complete during our normal work hours and we refuse to take the extra time required to complete them, among others. Both the ones I'm pointing at are matters of slacking. And both are destructive.

Friends, let's do what needs to be done. Don't worry about people accusing you of being a workaholic just because of the amount of time you might have to invest. Keep your priorities straight, keep your eyes on Jesus and your heart on your family, and do what needs to be done -- at home and at work. Don't destroy your life by slacking.

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This!

Today's reading:

• Proverbs 16:30 -- Whoever winks with their eye is plotting perversity; whoever purses their lips is bent on evil (NIV).

Thoughts:
Does this proverb strike you as paranoid? Or perhaps as overly judgmental? Isn't it overly simplistic to make a blanket statement like this? Is it really fair to make assumptions about people based on a quick twitch of their facial muscles? Does this proverb encourage us to read too much into people's morality with too little evidence?

First, let's remember that proverbs encapsulate general truths and principles. There are exceptions. But proverbs proclaim the general rule.

In this case, the general rule is simple, but too often ignored in today's politically correct environment. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.

This verse mentions winks and pursed lips. But there are plenty of other clues we use to decide whether to trust someone. Can they look us in the eye, or do they keep looking away? Do they keep silent and think carefully about how to answer (or what to reveal to you) when asked what should have been a relatively easy question?

And while we shouldn't pre-judge a person's character based on their outward appearance, in terms of deciding whether they could possibly be a reliable person or not, we should pre-judge in terms of whether they choose clothing or speech patterns or other adornments that indicate whether or not they are in alignment with our own ways of seeing the world. I'm automatically more leery of trusting someone with tons of bling who walks with a swagger than I am of trusting someone who keeps his or her appearance nice, but subdued. The first person is trying to prove something, it feels like, and I'm not sure I want to be involved in that.

So if you have a bad feeling, don't jump in. Be cautious. Discretion is a wise course of action. And it's a good thing -- even if it's not always politically correct.

Destination: Stuck

Today's reading:  

• Proverbs 15:19 -- The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway (NIV).

Thoughts: 
You could read this as a verse about how God's directly helps good people. Or you could read this as a verse about the goodness of diligence -- which would be a statement on how God designed life to reward people's good character. I choose the latter.


God's not like Maleficent (from Disney's Sleeping Beauty), magically growing thorns in the way of people because He doesn't like them. The thorns in this verse are the fruit of the sluggard's own character! If thorns weren't a part of the sluggard's life at first, then his lazy approach to life allowed them to grow, making his life even more difficult! So the sluggard makes no progress at all! And it's because of his own character.


On the other hand, upright people's path "is a highway." They're making progress. What's the difference? The difference is diligence. If an upright person has to make progress and there are thorns in the way, he doesn't shirk the work. He grabs a machete or pruning shears or a chainsaw (if he's really aggressive) and gets moving! If there aren't thorns in the way, better yet -- thorns won't be given the opportunity to grow because upright people stay on top of their maintenance, leaving them free to add new projects to their list.

While the sluggard's thorn bushes grow, the diligent clear the land, lay a foundation, and build a house. And a shed. And put up a fence. And start a business. Or aim for and land a promotion.


What are the challenges you keep putting off? Get those thorn bushes cleared and stay diligent! God has designed this life to make diligence much more rewarding! And when we fail? God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our slothfulness and to change our characters -- Jesus rose and lives to make us new. Ask Him for His righteousness, and specifically for His diligence. He gives good gifts.

Self-Examination

Today's reading:  

• Proverbs 14:8 -- The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.

Thoughts: 
I did not wake up today when I intended to. Let me amend that. I did not stay up today when I intended to. I set my alarm for a pretty early moment and was awakened about 10 minutes earlier by one of my children who needed some middle-of-the-night assistance. So I helped him, then went back to bed.

Why?

Why didn't I just stay up? I wanted to stay up. I had planned to be up. I had plans to wake up, read the Bible, write this blog. I also had intentions to do some chores, make some business decisions, chart out the family's afternoon a bit, eat before work without being rushed...

And it felt good to have plans. But it didn't feel good to have to wake up to execute them. And so I stayed in bed for an extra half an hour. And some of my plans got put on the back burner.

Was that a set up, Jesus? Because this verse really challenges my choice to stay in bed.

This verse makes it clear that wisdom involves taking time to examine and think about our lives. Wisdom involves considering where we are, where we would like to be, and what it will take to make the journey. Wisdom involves making choices about our ways that will allow us to follow the path we have decided on. Through giving thought to our ways, we achieve the purposes and dreams of our hearts. At least, when we act on those thoughts.

"But the folly of fools is deception." Here was this morning's deception for this fool: It will be better if you get extra time in bed than if you take time to consider your ways this morning.

Lord Jesus, please help me to walk in the convictions you give to me so that I can arrive at the destination you set before me.

I'm back. Finally...

It's on my heart to start blogging again. And I was pleasantly surprised to see, when I came back to my blog here at Three-Quarter Tank, that people keep looking at what I wrote in the past. Somehow, even though I haven't posted a thing for years, I now have over 18,000 page-views. It's kind of awesome to know that, just by leaving my thoughts online, people have been getting Scriptural encouragement even while I've been unable to get back into the habit and discipline of posting!

For those who haven't read my blogs before, that's mostly what I write about -- God's words. I hope that my thoughts encourage you to dig into God's words in God's Word with me.

Now that I'm back, I'll also be blogging about two or three other themes in my life: ministry, family, and business. I'll try to keep most of the blog focused on what it's focused on all along, though -- God's own words.

Here's why I'm adding the others:

• Ministry -- I have a vision on my heart to see unchurched believers return to Jesus' church, and to see unbelievers meet Jesus and join his church. So I'll be inviting you into that vision and passion.
• Family -- This will probably end up on here the least, but I think one of the great gifts God has given us is family. Family is worth celebrating, and family is worth fighting for -- even when sometimes fighting for family feels like fighting with family. So some of that may come through in my blogging. I want to be genuine and real, but I also want to protect my family from embarrassment and insecurity, so... we'll see how this actually works out. 
• Business -- I now own and operate a business, Harner Global. Why would I blog about it? Because of my ministry passion. Yes, I know, I'll have to connect the dots between the two of those for you, so here goes: I love to work, and I believe in doing high quality work that provides value to people. On the other hand, my biggest passions are people themselves. I love to help people in tangible ways, whether they know Jesus or not. And I also love to help them meet Jesus. So I have launched a business because I believe that I can grow it over time to the point where it frees me to devote more of my time to people directly. On this blog, probably about once a week, I will highlight the great quality of various products I sell online. And let me simply say, I sell quality products with a 180-day Money Back Guarantee. Because I care about people. So I don't sell junk. If you're interested in visiting my retail website, visit www.HarnerGlobal.com. But yes, that's my dream. I want to grow a business that frees me to fund ministry -- my own ministry and, as it keeps growing, the ministries of others, too.  

With all that said, to start things off, I preached a sermon on Mother's Day: The Proverbs 31 Husband. If you'd like to listen to it, there's a link right here:

http://www.reach-af.org/cpt_sermons/a-proverbs-31-husband/

I'm looking forward to walking with you again as we follow Jesus down the road together.