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Missing the Scenery

Sometimes it is easy to be so fixated on the task at hand that we miss the bigger picture. Myopic, we microscope on minute details and miss the boat, train, plane, automobile; whatever it was on the horizon that we were supposed to keep one eye on. A deadline, a curfew, a due date, a marker point where we were supposed to be ready. We get diverted, rerouted, or derailed. We miss something significant or important.

I've been walking the same trail for a year and a half. The first day I was so blessed by its beauty I posted pics mid-walk. Now, I'm a head-down pedestrian typing on my phone. I could be walking a city sidewalk for all I know. The scenery isn't captivating me like it used to. And I'm well aware I SHOULD be awestruck at God's handiwork a la Psalm 19. Abject wonder gives way to daily routine. I need to recapture some of that amazed enthusiasm.

We don't like to feel obligated. We see that as a negative. No one really likes to be told what to do. We rebel against clear instructions. We'd rather have suggestions. Our sovereignty feels a little less threatened that way, right?

But shouldn't there be a place for good obligation? A Holy have-to. Some things we should be Compelled, Driven, Resolved, even Obligated to be and do? Like loving God and neighbor, dependently praying, obeying God's Word, sharing Jesus. Isn't this the idea behind 2 Cor. 5:14 "the love of Christ compels us...we should live for Christ" and 1 Cor. 9:16 "woe is me if I do not preach the gospel"?

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