Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
Sinkhole Syndrome Theme of the Week: A Spiritual Workout Monday, April 12, 2004
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Men of IntegrityMarch/April 2004Sinkhole SyndromeTheme of the Week: A Spiritual WorkoutMonday, April 1272
Key Bible Verse: "You must warn each other every day … so that none of you will be deceived by sin"(Hebrews 3:13). Bonus Reading:Hebrews 3:7–19
The residents of a Florida apartment building awoke to a terrifying sight. The street in front of their building had collapsed. Cars had tumbled into the pit. The building itself would be the next to go.
Sinkholes occur when underground streams drain away during drought, causing the ground at the surface to lose its underlying support.
Our lives are susceptible to sinkholes. In the feelings of numbing fatigue, apparent failure, or disillusionment about goals or purposes, we may have sensed something about to give way. There seems to be little we can do to prevent such a collapse.
Yet we may discover the existence of an inner space—our private world, which, If neglected, won't sustain the weight of events and pressures that press upon it. Some people realize they have spent the majority of their time and energy sustaining life on the visible surface level. They've accumulated excellent assets like academic degrees, work experience, relationships, and physical strength.
Often we discover too late that our private world is in a state of disorderliness. When that's true we're vulnerable to the sinkhole syndrome.
—Gordon MacDonald in Ordering Your Private World
My Response: What can I do to foster a healthy spiritual world?
Thought to Apply: Better to be pruned to grow than cut up to burn.
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