Thursday Devotional...BALANCE AND...

                                                      ...MISPLACED ATTRACTIONS

Today I was coming home from a nearby town. That town is more rural in a western sense than where I live. There are ranches dotting the landscape beyond where the new housing areas have popped up in recent years. I passed a field not far outside of town where about two hundred cows were grazing. To be honest, I have noticed lately, as I pass fields where cows are found, that they are constantly feeding. Their heads are down as they munch on grass. The only movement is to walk slowly to a nearby patch that has not been chewed to the ground. They seem to amble around mindlessly when they are in motion. Only rarely do you see a line of cows that looks as if the herd might have a common purpose. The reason for that seems to be that a leader has started to walk, and the rest have decided to follow her. I doubt that they have any idea where they are going,

This Is their life. They walk slowly, perusing their fields, heads down, intent on their requirements of their lives. This bovine population seems oblivious to anything but these body needs. Don’t get me wrong and please do not think that I am an anti-cow person or that I see no value in cows. After all they are God’s creations put on the earth for a very useful purpose. We derive a lot from our dairy cows. That benefit is obvious. Then there are the beef cows which bless their human co-occupants here on earth with beef for steaks, hamburgers, and the like. I have to admit that I am somewhat of ignorant of the wonders of this particular animal. Some readers may be thinking that it is silly for me to judge their worth by human standards of what is nifty behavior.

Good point! However, as I observed them while driving down that country road I felt like I was having an “aha” moment from God. These animals are fixed on their bodies, and whatever benefit they are to the world is nothing planned or strived for. People can be in some ways the same. We have idols that become more important than anything in life. These drag us away from relating to God in the way we should. To name a few…spending, alcohol, gambling, eating, overbooked schedules, shirking duty and envy of others…just to name a few. When we let these addictions overtake our lives we are no different than the cows. Our attention is also myopic and somewhat mindless.

Dear God,Please aid me to have a balance in all I do today. Let me not shirk the things that I should be doing just to satisfy myself with things that seem to be more fun or more interesting to me. Remind me of the sometimes uninteresting duties of my life, and assist me to find joy completing these tasks. Help me to remember that You are the center of my life. Give me gratitude for the people and things You have blessed me with and a desire to serve You as I complete these mundane tasks.Amen.

Written by
Corinne Mustafa