Thursday, December 13, 2007

An-ti-ci-pa-tion!

With a title like that, you probably think I'm writing about Christmas. Wrong!

When I joined ShoutLife about three weeks ago, an evil virus took over my computer and then wiggled its way into my heart. It was so stealthy, that for a week or so I didn't even realize I'd been attacked. I went through my daily routine without a problem. As soon as I woke up each morning, I would hurry to turn my computer on and see which new people were reaching out to me, asking me to be their friends and share in their lives. Each day was met with a sense of anticipation as I wondered what the words on the screen would say to me.

Last week, the insidious virus reached my heart and stopped me cold. There was no cure for it. No cure other than repentance. You see, I had allowed the excitement about these strangers reaching out to me to be the most important thing of my morning. There was a sense of approval and worth brought about by seeing how many people had contacted me.

And that's when God spoke. The Great Physician pointed out that I had let this cut in to my daily appointment with Him. Instead of anticipating my time with Him each morning, reading His prescription for my life and getting my approval and feelings of worth from Him, I was pushing Him aside, anxious to get my fix from the computer.

I listened when He spoke. I read directives He'd given me in the past: Seek first the kingdom of God; I will fill you with My love every morning.

That's when I made the committment to meet with the Lord each day before turning on my computer. Nothing is more important than spending quality time aligning myself with His words that bring life and hope. Words that tell me I am loved. That tell me I'm worth more than I'll ever know.

His mercies are new every morning. Now that's something to anticipate!

7 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Make sure you clarify that ShoutLife isn't evil. ShoutLife is such a wonderful manifestation of the body of Christ. BUT, it can be a temptation to linger there.... longer... and longer....

Robyn

Sherrie Ashcraft said...

I should make sure you all realize I am not saying ShoutLife is an evil thing. That was not my intention at all, as I believe it's a wonderful way for the Christian world to connect with each other. I was simply meaning that anything can be like a little germ that gets in your body and takes over. All parts of our lives need to be under the care of the Great Physician.

cathikin said...

I know what you mean, really. I found myself doing the same thing. I love Shoutlife and the people there so much that all I wanted to do was stay online. I also had to balance things out. Even a good thing like Shoutlife can be a problem if we let it replace our time with God Himself.

Unknown said...

I don't do ShoutLife yet, but I understand what you mean. I even have the temptation to let my blog eat up too much of my attention--particularly checking the stats, worrying over whether people are visiting, whether they like my posts, etc.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Sherrie! Thanks for your blog. I need to spend more time with the Lord than on other things, too. Pray that this busy new mommy can do so! Thanks! Debbie M.

Christina Tarabochia said...

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:-)