Thinking Thursday Because We Skipped Yesterday!

Wednesday's post just couldn't happen because life doesn't always allow us to carry on with our regularly scheduled program. I knew I could try to squeeze in writing a devo before we left for the very, very long day out of town or I could just let go like we've been talking about and allow God to do the steering. So, I took a deep breath and I let the day unfold.
My daughter had emergency surgery back in February on her hip and was not allowed to do most activities for months. She also hit puberty. So over a period of a few months, she gained quite a few pounds and every woman knows just how that makes you feel. She weighs the most of all of the kids in the house and she hates getting on the scale no matter how many times I explain that this is puberty in our family. First, you grow out, then you grow up. So at her doctor, of course, they ask her to get on the scale. She comes to me and tells me the numbers and she's nearly in tears. Suddenly there is the devotional I was going to write about but never had a chance to before we left!
I pulled out my phone and looked up Genesis 3:9-11 and I read the words from Monday to her. And I asked her, "Who told you that the numbers on the scale were what determined your worth? Who told you that how you looked in a mirror was all there was to who you are? Who told you that the most important thing about you could be measured in such trivial things?" Guess what? She said "Nobody." I explained how Adam and Eve fell into the same trap of sin by listening to and desiring MORE than God had already given them and it had stripped them bare. Sin had left them naked before God and they felt ashamed. But it is God who gives us our belonging, our importance, our purpose. If we seek self-worth from anywhere else we will always find disappointment and ultimately be left feeling like we do when we step on that scale. What God gives us can never be taken away. What sin gives us can only be taken away by Christ. God asked Adam "Who told you that you were naked?" Isn't that how we feel when we have been stripped of everything God has already supplied because of our own sin? We stand before the thrown naked and ashamed.
Just like I told my daughter, there's no reason for it. God did not put us on this earth to be controlled by a piece of metal with batteries. God did not put us on this earth to be consumed with beauty products and clothing fads and all things vanity. God put us on this earth to do His will. Everything outside of that is a distraction at best. Do not confuse what the world offers with what God intended for your life. If it detracts from your relationship with Him, get rid of it. If it pulls you away from His path, get rid of it. If it keeps you stuck in the muck where you cannot follow where He leads, for the love the of all things GET RID OF IT. Guard your relationship with Christ like your soul depends on it BECAUSE IT DOES. Stop looking in the mirror and start looking in the Scripture. That's your best advice for life :)