“Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on…” (Philippians 3:12a)
I used a teaser at the end of the yesterday’s meditation, trying to entice you to tune in today, hoping that I might share my note on what I had on my “Get Rid of It” list, as I go from this present year into the next year. And perhaps if I am a little transparent and truly forthright, maybe you will be honest with yourself in making your “Get Rid of It” list. Well, here we are in the new day, and you are ready to see my list. Don’t think I don’t have one! The fact is that I do indeed have one, a long one, identifying some old things I can get rid of and put some new things in the open, vacated, cleaned up space. Yes, I have a “Get Rid of It” list that will help me make perfect progress on this spiritual journey and be in compliance with Jesus’ words. “Be ye perfect as My Father is perfect.” Check it out!
I have to get rid of impatience. I have to get rid of it! I have to get rid of failing to see that when things are at the “not yet” stage, not yet what I want them to be, note yet done with me yet, and I have to put in those not yet places faith and agree with the fact that the best is yet to come. I did not feel to elaborate that by making a side not on my list, one that stated, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Look at this one that I have to put on my list. While outwardly I can take criticism, I have to work on the inner man and let me use moments where I receive criticism constructively, changing them to moments where I can make constructive comments, in a Christ like manner, in clear, edifying responses that do not elevating a conversation. Oh, I have a list! I can’t share it all with you! It would have to be a two-part series or as lengthy as a two-part sermon. Don’t worry! I will not venture into that undertaking. However, I will share one more thing from my “Get Rid of It” list with you, revealing I have not already become perfect.
I added this to my list after a Thursday night dinner conversation with my wife and son from Atlanta as we were sitting at the dining room table. We started talking about sleeping habits. You all know that I get up early, right? Well, my son, who possesses a great sense of humor, made a comment about all the clocks in the room he was sleeping in, as well as the nearby, adjacent rooms. He said that every time he would dose off, he would hear the sound of certain or better said, numerous clocks, “tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.” It made getting to sleep and/or staying asleep a challenge for him during his visit. I laughed so hard that my eyes were filled with tears, my stomach was shaking, and my head moved up and down to the point that I almost hit my head on my dinner plate. I admitted two things. First, I had moved the “tick,” “tick,” “tick,” “tick” clocks downstairs, not just to match the décor, which they did, but because I had the same sleep interruption experiences in the past with those very same clocks. I shared, still laughing, about how I would wake up and say, “What is that noise!” I shared how I moved one from the bedroom to the door of the linen closet, right outside my room. But I could still hear the “tick,” “tick,” “tick” sounds that caused sleep deprivation. I’m laughing through this whole dining room dialogue, but it made me definitely added one more thing to my list.
Honestly, I will look at my OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) tendencies that I usually deny, a little closer, especially dealing with the number of clocks that “need” to be in certain places, and certain spaces, and of certain colors, and of certain numbers. Let’s face it! You don’t need three clocks in every room! Furthermore, I will try hard to extend my consciousness of OCD tendencies to keep me from moving stuff around every day. I will try my best to act in a way to stay on time without all the clocks, while still keeping things timely and orderly, avoiding, circumventing the need for someone in the house to ask, “What did you change today?” This has to go on my list! I’m sure of it because the need to do so was reinforced after dinner as I did the dishes by hand, not ready to turn on the dishwasher until the outside temperature was steadily above freezing. When I finished dishes, I put this drying towel, the one on which I laid the washed dishes until I dried them and put them away, across the outer ledge of the sink to dry. So far, so good, but as I walked away, I turned and saw that the drying towel was hanging crooked. HMJ! Help me Jesus!
I went back and readjusted the drying towel. I walked away again, but I just could not help myself. I turned and looked to check and see if I had placed the drying towel perfectly. Guess what? It was off a little. One side was hanging lower than the other side. So, I changed it, made another readjustment. At that point, there was no doubt that looking at my OCD tendencies had to be on my “Get Rid of It” list. And you want to know what? If I get rid of it, this might even give me more time to dedicate to the Lord’s work and certainly make me more tolerable to live with. Well, that’s my sharing that I mentioned as a teaser yesterday. Know this friend! It was not just a tease yesterday. It might have started that way, but it transformed into therapy for me! Go ahead and laugh! But go easy on me now! Smile! Have a great day! Be blessed!
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King