IOU'S

                        A little food for weekend thought--
     Remembering some things that bring joy to my heart and a song to my soul:
     Watching how much Bingley loves, loves, loves the water--whether a creek, a lake, or a mud puddle--

       The dancing, clear waters of Cane River--

      Eating dinner by the lake with our children (only missing wonderful Matt here) on father's day--

      The Pacific Ocean--

      The end of a long day on the golf course...but such peace, such beauty, and such joy in watching your son play--

      A perfect dinner overlooking the setting sun--

     The gift of an amazing family and spending time with them at Cane River fishing--

 Sitting on the porch in the mountains, gazing at God's wonders--

 
     But shouldn't this sense of joy and wonder be our constant refrain when it comes to God's Word as well?   Oh my, this convicts me for I know that all too often my love for the living, breathing, supernatural Word of my Lord falls woefully flat.  My response can sometimes be pale and pale, my heart divided and distracted when I open the Bible.  And that should never be!  The joys of this magnificent world should be a pale reflection of the beauty, joy, and wonder of our God as He is revealed in His eternal, perfect, satisfying Word.
     So what do we do when our desire for God's Word grows dim or our focus is distracted?  How do we rekindle our excitement and joy for the Bible?  I loved these words from John Piper!  He says when he struggles with this (for we all do at times),  he prays through his IOU'S.
    I--"Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain." (Ps.119:36)  Even the Psalmist sometimes struggled to have a heart that was inclined towards God and the things of God!  So pray and ask God to incline our hearts towards His commands.
    O--"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." (Ps.119:18)  I've always loved this verse.  We need to ask God specifically to open our eyes to glimpse and understand the wondrous, amazing things contained in His Word.  Show us the treasures, Lord!
    U--"Unite my heart to fear Your name." (Ps.86:11)  John Piper, like the rest of us, can sit down to read the Bible and suddenly he's noticing that buzzing fly on the wall...or remembering some forgotten errand.  Our hearts can be so distracted and divided, can they not?  So we join the Psalmist in pleading that God would unite our fragmented hearts so we can focus on His Word.
     S--"Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." (Ps.90:14)  Surely the best prayer of all!  We need to pray and ask God to satisfy us with His glorious and unceasing love so that we might be a people of deep and abiding joy.
    That's what is available to us in His Word--don't we want to experience such satisfaction, such wisdom, such gratitude, such joy?  I sure do.  But I know how weak and distracted I can be, so what a great reminder that we need to go to the throne of grace and pray these IOU'S...that God would incline our hearts, open our eyes, unite our hearts, and satisfy our souls in and by His Word.
     And we do it whether we feel like it or not.  As Piper says, "Even when you don't feel like it, keep tending the garden like a farmer who has to get out there everyday and pull the weeds and till the soil.  Not because that day the fruit will grow, but because someday in God's sovereign timing, it will grow if you keep tending the garden."
     On those days when it's a struggle to "tend the garden"--whether it's reading God's Word or simply living out His Truth--it helps to remember that we live by faith, not by feeling.  No matter how we're feeling, might we tend our garden--by reading His Word and praying those IOU'S--and trust that God will, in His sovereign and perfect timing, produce a harvest of righteousness peace, and joy.
     To God be the glory.