Lessons from Vacation

Lesson 1: If your children wake up at 7:00 a.m. and you run around Disney Land until after the fireworks are over at 10:00 p.m. they are going to be tired.

  • This was a hard lesson, but it reminded me that we all have limits. We have to stop pushing ourselves too far.  We have to find ways to create margin in our lives.  Eventually too much of anything just isn’t fun anymore.

 

Lesson 2: The sun doesn’t care if you applied sunscreen over most of your body.  It will still burn the areas you missed.

  • The back of my arms… How could the sun find the back of my arms? The sun works a lot like temptation though.  If you aren’t protecting every area it will find a way to burn you.  Church, we have to be alert.  The devil is working hard.  Watch for early signs of damage and then do something to fix it.  Sin and temptation are nothing to play with.

 

Lesson 3: Vacations are not routine.  If you are routine-oriented you will need to plan ahead.

  • Each day I tried really hard to keep my routine of reading God’s word and praying each morning. However, I found that it was increasingly difficult depending on what we were doing each morning and what we did the night before.  We don’t have to be on vacation for this to be the case either.  Don’t let life steal your focused time with God.  Set a routine of Bible study and prayer but also plan ahead for when life isn’t routine.

 

Lesson 4: After leaving the beach you will find sand EVERYWHERE.

  • Sand has a way of transferring from whatever it is on to whatever else it touches. It was on feet and hands—sure, why not—but it was also in hair, in the cooler and in my book.  Paul talks about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians.  Whichever we choose to live by will also spread like sand.  It too will stick in places that we don’t expect so let’s make sure that what we are sharing is worth sharing everywhere.

 

In Him,

Pastor Tim.