On Haircuts

Imagine that you are a sheep.  Baaaaah.  As a little ewe lamb you wander around, munching on grass and clover until your plump little belly is satisfied.  You lie down on soft patches of moss, watching cute little bunny rabbits frolic around in the surrounding pasture.  You spend all year long growing a beautiful, plush coat of soft, fluffy wool.  All the other little ewe lambs are jealous of your fine follicles of soft goodness.

Then along comes an ugly, old shepherd dude with a rusty pair of shears and whacks it all off.  Gone is your outer garment of beauty, and you are left with nothing but naked shame.

That describes my life exactly.  OK, maybe not EXACTLY, but I had a similar experience.

I got my hair cut after going 3 months without a single trim (yes, I know most of you noticed that a long time ago…).  Now suddenly it looks like my grass does when I forget to put the lawnmower blade on level 4 instead of level 1.

Don’t get me wrong, the lady who cut it did a good job, and I really like her.  It’s just that I haven’t had short hair in a long time.  And in reality it’s not even that short.  It’s no shorter than it was the last time I got a haircut.  It’s just that it looks like a drastic change to me.  I’d gotten so used to my long hair, I’d forgotten what it was like to have short hair.

The same phenomenon tends to occur in my spiritual life.  I get into a pattern of holiness and spiritual discipline, being diligent in my walk with the Lord, and then I allow sin to start growing in my heart.  Before long, it’s grown so much that I don’t look anything like I did before it grew out.

But I don’t even realize it…because it happens so slowly.  I get so used to a lifestyle filled with sin, I forgot what holiness looks like.  On top of that, when I do realize my need to “cut” my sinfulness, I’m hesitant to do it because I’ve kind of gotten attached to the rugged, “good-looks” of my growing sin problem.

I’m pretty sure there are better ways to describe sin than by discussing the process of whacking off hair.  Nevertheless, it reminds me of my need to stay pure and the ease at which I allow sin to grow in my life.

In conclusion, I want to be spiritually bald for 2 reasons.  For one, I’d even more closely resemble the physique of Mr. Clean than I already do.  And secondly, I wouldn’t let sin grow in my life at all.

If only…

On Unfaithfulness

There are two things that I know for sure:

1. I can’t fly.  Tried that one before…

2. I am a terrible blogger.

It’s been awhile since my last post and even longer since I did a true post according to my usual blogging style.  Why the wait?

Laziness.  Plain and simple.

My blogging pattern closely resembles that of every other aspect of my life: a pattern of unfaithfulness.  I lack discipline.  I lack motivation.  And consequently, I lack faithfulness and the ability to see things through.

This is not a new development.  It hasn’t just sprung up in the last couple of years.  Looking back on my life, there are very few things that I’ve been faithful in seeing through to completion.  I always seemed to get my schoolwork done or finish projects at work, but if there was no immediate consequence for not seeing something through, then it often did not get done.

Examples: I stopped working out after about 3 months of doing it faithfully (I know, my bodily physique defies that fact).

I never did learn Spanish.

I quit swim team as a child because I looked too good in a Speedo and was a temptation to the girls around me…or because I just didn’t want to do it anymore.

Time after time I start something and don’t follow through.  This has never been more evident than in my spiritual life.  Lack of discipline has led to many a failed attempt at quiet time routines, Scripture memorization, or simply being holy when faced with temptations.

Praise the Lord that he is faithful.  His love never fails even when I fail miserably.  Great is his faithfulness.

So, what to do about my unfaithfulness?  Work at it, try harder, do better?  I guess those are all noble goals.  However, first I must understand and appreciate the grace that God shows me.  Then, I must seek him.  It is only by the grace of God that I can approach him, much less be faithful in following him.

May his grace sustain me, and may that grace help me to be faithful.

No promises for better blogging habits—just letting you know about my problem.

What are you unfaithful in?