Half a Mind

"Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment."
Matthew 22:36-38 NLT

Have you ever driven down a road that you've been on countless times before and "all of a sudden" see something that you've never seen before and you ask the person riding with you, 'When did that go up?' - or - 'How did that get there?' Then that person looks at you as though you're crazy and replies, 'That's always been there!'  It seems unbelievable to them that you've never seen it, but it's just as unbelievable to you that it's always been there. 

Well, don't feel too badly. If you're usually the one driving, most of your attention is probably on the road (as it should be). For me, half of my mind is occupied with the road, and in all actuality, the other half is probably divided into several bits and pieces - the conversation at hand, kids/grandkids, work, the never-ending to-do list... 

Here in the southwestern part of the U.S., a familiar colloquial phrase is 'I have half a mind to   (fill in the blank)  .'  And loosely, it implies that you're thinking about doing something, but you're not actually following through to physically do it... but with a little more thought, you might be motivated to follow through. 

Here's where all this got sticky for me. How many times have I been guilty of allowing myself to be distracted by stupid things? Things barely worth noticing in the first place, let alone worth a second thought, but all the more distracting because I have only applied half my mind toward whatever I should be thinking about? Let me get down to the bare bones - how many times am I guilty of allowing myself to be distracted by cares of this world or email notifications or text message pings because I only have half my mind on Jesus? How many times - with just a little more thought - could I have been motivated to actually follow through with what my heart was telling me to do?

Prayer:

Father, 
           I want to love You and live for You with all my heart, all my soul and ALL my mind fixed on You. Forgive me for all the half-measures and half-attempts and all the times I only had half a mind on You, Lord. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

* For One Day

   Then Moses told the Lord, “Please, Lord, I’m not eloquent. I never was in the past nor am I now since you spoke to your servant. In fact, I talk too slowly and I have a speech impediment.”

   Then God asked him, “Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes him unable to speak, or deaf, or able to see, or blind, or lame? Is it not I, the Lord? Now, go! I myself will help you with your speech, and I’ll teach you what you are to say.”

   Moses said, “Please, Lord, send somebody else.”           

Exodus 4:10-13 ISV International Standard Version

How many of us can relate to Moses' request? How many times have we not done something because we didn't feel qualified? 

How many times have we told God 'no' when in Truth we know our immediate response should be 'Yes, Lord" because we have declared in prayer, "Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" ? Why do we waste the very breath God gave us to refuse Him? How do we take for granted the God-given ability to walk and talk and use both to walk away from Him while offering Him excuse after excuse?

What if, for one day, we didn't ask God for anything, we just praised Him? What if, for one day, we didn't tell Him 'no'; we only said, 'Yes, Lord'? Just for one day...

Prayer:

Father,

          Change our hearts, O God! Please do NOT send anyone else in our place! Let us fulfill Your purpose for our lives that You have planned for us to do from the very beginning. Put a guard over our mouths so that only yes and amen come out. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen