2:5 – Challenge Complete. Next!

#faithbites #faithjourney Challenge

Today marks a big day for me. In November of 2017, a friend of mine who shared scripture every day said he was leaving Facebook. I told him I was sad to see him go and miss his daily scriptures. He said maybe it was time for someone else to do it. So I accepted.

On January 1, 2018 I started sharing scriptures every day. The first one I shared was from Isaiah 43:18-19. I forgot to do one on January 4, but did two on January 5. Since then, I haven’t missed a day. So today marks 1 year of sharing scripture. On 1/27 it will be one year since I coined the name #faithbites to represent this sharing. What a long strange trip it has been.

Many times I thought about stopping. “What’s one day if I miss it?” “No one will notice if I forget or don’t post”. “Who’s going to read it anyway”. But every day, I persisted. I finished what I signed up for.

Our spirit, just like earthly lives, are rewarded when we stick through and finish what we started.

Scripture

• The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. – Isaiah 40:8
• Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. – Deuteronomy 5:33
• When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

Reflection

We stop doing things we agreed to for a variety of reasons: fatigue, busyness, anger, fear, and many others. For me, it was partially fear and partially being too busy. But when I looked at it again, this is part of my daily worship. I have a chance to read the Lord’s word, reflect on his impact in my life, and share it with others.

All the other things I do should bring him Glory as well. In both John and Deuteronomy we see that we won’t be in darkness and that God will protect us and we will prosper. He will make sure we have what we need, we will live long in our land, and have Jesus’ light with us.

Many things in our lives our outside of our control. People cheat us. Friends and neighbors break commitments, but God’s love and will is forever. In our quest to be Christ-like, we can do our best to honor our commitments through all the struggles in our lives. When we finish the commitment, or the Lord directs us in another path, we will know.

Charge

If you make a commitment, live up to it. Don’t make excuses why you shouldn’t or can’t do it. Others are counting on you. Breaking a commitment is the same as lying.

This is hard and I do it often. I have hurt others as I am sinful. My charge is to look at your commitments and see what you can do to honor them. If you can’t do them, then talk to the person who is expecting you to do it. Pray on it. God will help you know what to do.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly father, help us have the strength to follow through on our commitments. Give us signs to know when a commitment is over and when we should keep doing the tasks and jobs you have assigned us. Help me as I write #faithbites to be a messenger of your word. Grow my faith and use me to reach others in your family. Amen.