Bin Laden was a very bad man and I'm not sorry he's dead. And I can't know the grief of those who lost loved ones. But I think singing "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" may be a bit much.
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him. Proverbs 24:17-18 (thanks, Laurel Shields!)
(And yes, God promises the wicked will get their comeuppance, and I'm thankful for that. I just don't know if partying like we won a sports game is the most Christian reaction.)
So on a completely unrelated note--I actually got these ideas Sunday morning before church!...
I love writing and feel God has given me a gift and/or interest in writing. I don't work on writing as much as I should, even though I think God has some things He would like me to write for whatever reason. I don't spend as much time with God as I should, and I'd also like to get some writing done.
So I got to thinking. I believe in tithing 10% of your income to God (interestingly, that's what my pastor preached on soon after I got this idea!). But as an adult I have never been in a position where I've found tithing my income difficult.
I do NOT believe the Bible says you have to give 10% of your time. Honestly, I'm not sure if many parents or students would even actually be able to do that if they wanted to!
But I'm single. Employed, yes. Tired when I get home from work, often. But my obligations outside my job are really pretty minimal. For pity's sake, I have machines to wash my laundry and my dishes for me!
(Every time I think of complaining about "having to do laundry" I think of my great-great-grandmothers. If they didn't have servants, they could have easily spent something like 2 days EVERY WEEK doing the family laundry. I guess the fact that my great-grandmothers have not given me a solid beating for my laziness is evidence that the dead do not walk the earth among us.)
ANYWAY. I've got a bunch of time I'm squandering. I wonder...could I give 10% of my time towards God and pursuits I believe God would like me to follow, such as writing Christian fiction?
Honestly, I'm kind of scared. But I'm trying it for 40 days. My goal is to spend an average of 2.5 hours each day (just over 1/10 of my time) praying, reading/studying the Bible, at church activities, and/or writing/planning my writing. This is stuff I should be doing anyway. Realistically, the writing/planning is going to take up the majority of this time. Thing is, I am lazy and I am easily distracted. Only by the grace of God will I manage even this meager goal. I realize the idea of calculating this time may be a little crass, but if I just have a fuzzy goal of "more time doing these things"...it just doesn't happen.
The first day was Sunday, May 1, so I got a jump start with church and all. I actually got in 5 total hours before my bedtime Bible reading/prayer time. So RIGHT NOW I'm well ahead. The other 39 days...well, my follow-through is not so good, and again, I'm going to need God to help me here.
Can you see why I claim this is the scariest entry ever? But hopefully an exciting one too.
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