Buying magazine subscriptions for relative’s Christmas presents is wonderful. Instead of giving one thing you give twelve things and you don’t have to go shopping or do wrapping. Another major plus is you can help your child score really big in their school magazine sales drive. Just this weekend our five-year old granddaughter called and asked if we would buy a subscription. When we told her we needed six subscriptions she was very excited. We asked when she needed to turn them and she told us right away. That did not leave time for us to select the magazines. “That’s alright,” she said, “I’ll pick them out for you!” Immediately my mind envisioned us sending my older sisters subscriptions to Jack and Jill or Humpty Dumpty Magazines.
So often in our immaturity we think we are capable of directing God’s work and advancing His kingdom. We think our plans are just what are needed to evangelize the world and take the Gospel to the masses. Actually I believe the problem goes even deeper into the plans we make for our personal lives. We think we know exactly what steps to take to please God and fulfill His dream for our lives. We are like five-year-olds picking out magazines.
There is a verse in Psalm 23 we learned as children and need to regularly repeat. It goes like this, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” Note just who it is who is doing the directing. It is the only way that really works.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 5, 2003
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