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Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Saturday 12 September 2009

Spiritual Sundays

Hello Friends~ The other day I was reading a devotion from The Daily Bread and it reminded me of the time when my hubby and I had planned to take a trip around the Cabot Trail.
Now, for those of you who live in Canada, you know what the Cabot Trail is, but for my American friends, it is a scenic route driven up over the highlands of Cape Breton Island which is part of Nova Scotia, and it is particularly beautiful in the Autumn. It is a very popular drive for tourists and honeymooners.
Anyway, to get back to my story, we had pulled into this motel and asked for a room. When we walked into the room, there were hundreds of flies gathered into the corners of the room. Needless to say, we were quite uncomfortable with that and asked for another room. The clerk informed us that there were none available!
We never did get to go around the Cabot Trail!
One other time, we were preparing to move into the home of a friend of ours who was living off Island. Our friend had neglected to clean it up for us before the move and I was shocked to find dead insects and a disturbing amount of mouse evidence everywhere; and I mean everywhere! It was so bad that my friend who had accompanied me to help me get the place in order before our moving date, flat out refused to come back and help me clean it! Apparently it was too much for her to stomach! I didn't blame her; it was pretty bad! So, I got to do it all by myself, which brings me to the devotional that I am about to share with you!
Bill Crowder has done a splendid job putting my thoughts into words on the subject!

UNTENDED PLACES
Our family had just arrived at the lake cottage we had rented for a week of much-anticipated vacation when my wife discovered the unmistakable evidence of spiders and mice in the house. It wasn't that we had never encountered such things, but that we had expected the cottage to be cleaned and prepared for our stay there. Instead, the counters, cabinets, and beds were littered with the residue of infestation, requiring much cleaning before we settled in. It wasn't a bad house; it had just been left untended.
We might be guilty of dealing with our hearts the way that cottage was managed. Our "untended places" can become breeding grounds for infestation of wrong thinking, poor attitudes, or sinful behavior - creating problems that require significant attention to correct. The wise path is to recognize our need to tend our hearts by staying in God's Word and embracing its truths.
In Psalms 119:11, King David recognized the danger of not building our lives on the Scriptures. He said, "Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you."
With a focus on the Word, we can build strong spiritual lives that will help us avoid the dangers and inevitably grow in untended places.
Please join our gracious hostesses Charlotte and Ginger for another Spiritual Sunday by clicking on the link http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/ or the Spiritual Sundays button on my sidebar. Have a wonderful and restful Sunday everyone. The Lord bless you!
Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

19 comments :

  1. Good metaphor. The use of the unkempt cabin is a great illustratin for what can happen to our hearts if left untended.

    I liked this quote: "Our "untended places" can become breeding grounds for infestation of wrong thinking, poor attitudes, or sinful behavior - creating problems that require significant attention to correct."

    This is why there is so much attentin on the heart in the Bible. Good post.

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  2. I was listening to the Christian station last night on my way to work and the pastor's statement "you've got to read and live the Word" stuck into my mind. We read the Bible, yes, but reading is not accomplishing anything not until we put it into our actions. Great analogy of unkempt house and the condition of our hearts. Blessings to you.

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  3. What a good illustration. How disappointing to find the places in such a bad condition. We stayed at a motel once that had dead crickets (huge ones) laying around all over the place. We thought they would have swept them up before assigning the room to someone. It is a little unnerving. At least I was glad they were dead.
    Charlotte

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  4. AMEN! THANK YOU!
    Blessings and prayers, andrea

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  5. I, too, love this metaphor, Sandi! Thank you for this gentle reminder to check our "untended" places.
    Uncomfortable, maybe ... necessary, always!

    Have yourselves a beautiful new week!

    Myra

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  6. You are a splendid story teller. You had me from the beginning and kept my attention to the end. A great lesson and you illustrated it extremely well. Thanks for posting.

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  7. That is so true, I am carrying a few cobwebs myself. The amazing thing to me is that I can be made clean, and if I find more cobwebs, I can be made clean again. What a wonderful God!

    God bless you Anne

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  8. This is a great post!I just don't understand how someone can just leave that for someone else to clean.
    Ginger

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  9. I've heard of the Cabot trail. I am from Pa, but my dad's family is originally from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. It's one of the places I;ve always wanted to go. =] I hope my heart will never be an untended place again. Thanks!

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  10. What a wonderful reminder!!!! Untended lives certainly do not attract the unsaved who need Jesus which is our ultimate goal.
    Susan

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  11. Thank you for this good reminder to keep my places tended.

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  12. Sandi,
    Good post on keeping attention focused on keeping ourselves "tended to!" Have a great week!


    Blessings,
    Jean

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  13. Sandi,
    Thank you for the reminder to read God's word daily and keep it ever in our hearts. Have a beautiful week. Vicki

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  14. What a great comparison. Thanks for sharing that.

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  15. Sandi, I gathered with some girlfriends a few years ago in a cabin up in the mountains and huge mice (rat?) traps were in every room. At night several of the gals took sleeping pills but I didn't and could hear the critters in the walls. So yes, this speaks to me loudly about maintaining my spiritual house.

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  16. Hi Sandy..thanks for stopping by my place! I just popped in to say hello, and catch up with you.

    Your post for Spiritual Sunday was so challenging....untended places! Wow, that is something to meditate on and ask the Lord to show us those areas in our own heart and life.

    Be blessed,
    Susan

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  17. The heart really matter. Thanks for sharing the beautiful message.

    Sharing my previous post.
    Regina

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  18. Wonderful analogy, Sandi. We do have to tend to our hearts, or they become wild, going here and there, causing much heartache.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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