Be Bold and Careful

   Yesterday a friend called, and, in the midst of the conversation, he mentioned that my blog really blessed him. Now that statement always both blesses and surprises me. I am surprised because, deep down, I don't think that anything that I write is all that profound, and blessed because God has used the words to minister to someone else. There is also the surprise that anyone would read it at all.

   The reason for this writing activity, initially, was to journal my quiet time thoughts. As I was doing this, the idea hit me that some of the struggles I go through, and how God was speaking to me through them, might resonate with others in similar circumstances. So, the blog was born.

   Chambers uses this verse today:

      "My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.". 1 Corinthians 2:4

   Now I do not consider my words to be preaching, unless I am preaching to myself, but I realize that by blogging, these same words are being read by others. I know that is what blogging is, but it also carries with it a responsibility to be both honest and careful about what I write. 

   One temptation is to be both witty and wise so that any accidental audience will believe that I have something to say, and that it is worth them taking the time to read, but the greater snare is thinking that all of this somehow makes the writer important. 

   Would it be great if everyone who reads an entry sent a message of how good it was and how it changed their life forever? Probably not, the writer's head would swell and he would get all the credit. The blog would be only a creative exercise, not at all what was intended to be.

   So I have to be careful. Careful to be understood for sure, but careful that the words written are what the Spirit of God leads me to write. Careful not to let the object of the project be the praise of man, and a path to self glory. Careful to be relevant and humble at the same time, but without being proud to be humble.

   God's admonition today is to lead a bold and careful life, and not let the two be in conflict with each other.

   Now, that would be something worthwhile.