Sacred Space

When we visited our house when looking to buy it, I took one look at the woods over the hill behind the Z Shack and said, "I would love to make a prayer path back here, to just walk back in these woods and pray to Jesus." We've lived in this house six years and I've yet to create it ... for a couple of reasons. One, I've mowed down the area back there countless times, but nature has the edge on me and I just can't keep up with it. Weeds, new trees (not to mention poison ivy), they grow so fast back there I just can't stay on top of it. And two, there are supposed to be rattlesnakes back there, so I don't want to stumble across one of those. As a result, there is no prayer path in the back woods. As a matter of fact, we don't really use those woods for anything except collecting brush or dead trees for our fire pit.

Now there is a corner flower bed in the front of my yard near the driveway. When we first moved in, it had a tiny deteriorating wooden fence around it, few perennials some shrubs and trees. Since we've moved in, I have torn down the fence, pruned the bushes and trees and added azaleas, rose bushes, peonies, chrysanthemums and daffodils. I've also added annuals like zinnias, pansies and gerbera daisies. I mulch it every year with fresh pine straw. I weed it every day. I've added decorative cockle seashells. And I've placed two gray Adirondack chairs there for me and Brad. I use those chairs every morning when the weather is nice to do my Bible devotion and Brad will be out there every Sunday morning practicing his sermon. It's become a sacred space of worship.

So while my plans to change the back hill into a reverent place didn't work out, the bed out front has. It took work: weeding, tidying, mulching, planting and replanting to make it into what we wanted it to be. We didn't let nature get the better of us. We worked at it.

It's the same as marriage. If you want marriage to be a sacred place, you need to work at it. Tidying, planting, replanting, pruning and most definitely keeping the weeds out. Don't let the world get the better of you in this. And believe us, it will try. It will try to steal your time, your morals, your love and your patience. Stay on top of it. Be faithful in prayer and Scripture reading. Go to our Father for guidance. Be loving and forgiving. It is absolutely worth the time and effort it takes. Just don't ever make the mistake of thinking it doesn't. Make your marriage a sacred space of worship to glorify the Lord.

Discussion: Do you have a sacred space where you have some devotional time with the Lord? Did it take any work to get it to be that sacred place of worship? What do you think of the comment that marriage takes work?

Prayer: Lord, may we always seek our time in our day to praise and worship You and to seek Your guidance. And, Father, we pray our marriage is also a sacred space of worship. Help us to stay on top of keeping it that way. In Christ Jesus, Amen.

Jot This Down

Yesterday my mother handed me a red binder filled with Bible study and sermon notes that she'd put together from over the years. Most of the pages are worksheets with my mother's handwriting popping up in different locations, whether answering study questions or writing down a sentence or two from a sermon or lecture she wanted to remember. Sentences like "God has programmed His moral code into our hearts. When you become a Christian, changes begin to occur in our conscience" or "Life is what happens when we're making plans." It's a precious record of a section of her spiritual journey. I think it's interesting that she handed me this binder the same day that Ayla said she purchased a book to keep all her sermon notes in. "I got tired of carrying around a bunch of little bits of paper, Mommy," she said. I have another friend who takes notes on a clipboard she carries with her everywhere. Typically, I have notes written all over the inside of my Bible from sermon's I have heard over the years.

Learning through study and in worship are wonderful ways to continue to grow in our faith. They can make you understand, appreciate, obey and worship the Lord even better than you have previously. If you feel compelled to write something down that you have heard, it is a good possibility the Lord is speaking to your heart to do so. I have kept just about every Bible study I've ever taken or taught and likewise the notes. Every once and awhile I will go back and read those notes or redo the study. It is interesting to me to see the changes in my spiritual life since that first note-taking effort. Or to see what different attributes the Lord wants me to catch the second time around.

Next month, me and about 10 others are retaking a Bible study I took last fall called "Foundations in Apologetics." It is an excellent study by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries led by various theologians and professors at Oxford University designed to "introduce a comprehensive range of apologetic arguments and strategies." The lecturers speak in a variety of accents and brogues and use a number of words that I needed a dictionary for. They spoke way over my head. But I gleaned so much from the study. After we finished, most of us commented we wanted to go through all the lectures again to absorb even more ... so we are. And new folks are joining us. I am excited to see what the Lord wants me to learn and apply this time. See, I have a long way to go with regards to applying a good defense of the faith.

Proverbs 1:5 "Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance;" and Proverbs 18:15 says "An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." Never stop learning. Never stop taking notes. Retake studies to retain and discover new information. Not only will it make you better Christians, but it will also enhance your efforts to work as a team for the Lord in the growth of His Kingdom.

Discussion: Tell about a study you have taken that you'd consider retaking. When do you typically take notes during a study or sermon? Do you ever reread your notes?

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the gift of the Living Word where we learn something new every time we read it. We thank you that you have inspired many souls to preach the Word, teach it and write studies on it for us to learn more. Help us to be diligent is wanting to make ourselves more and more like you. In Christ, our Rabbi teacher, Amen.