Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues....
I don't know why, but that little ditty popped into my head about a minute ago. It's gonna be there for a while, I'll bet.
Today's post is all about accountability. That really got driven home the other day in the one area where I have a HUGE accountability problem. No, it's not sex. It's worse. It's money, and secondary to that, it's office politics. There are going to be two stories today, methinks.
Anyway, I was home on Thursday and in my typical snit about my lack of funds when that still, small voice says "I'm going to make you accountable to Me for every penny you spend." I was tired, but I heard it. Accountable not to Miss June, who told me to write down everything I spend in a tablet a few months ago (and I promptly ignored her), or anybody else, but to God Himself.
For every penny.
That drove accountability home. For the last three days, I've been doing that. Here's my accountability list. Thursday, I spent $1.75 in the vending machines at work, for a bag of pretzels and a roll of life savers. Friday I spent $5.02; the fiver was for a pizza lunch with the rest of my crew. The two cents was because I ran an errand for my roomie, who is ill, and was too shy (or embarrassed) to tell the cashier the automatic change thiingie shorted me the two pennies for her change. Being an honest man, i replaced the pennies myself.
Yesterday, I spent $10 at our church clean-up. I had $15. A young man who's down on his luck asked me yesterday if he could do some work while we were outside doing church cleanup. He swept the sidewalks and gutters and I paid him. I know what it's like to want.
I titled the post, Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues because those that know me well, know I was always about having fun. I liked to have a good time and never really cared about how I spent the money, hence the troubles I have now. They are of my own making and could have been sooooo much worse, save the grace of God. But now being personally accountable to God for every penny?
That's not going to be easy, but it does stop and make me think about spending money. I was going to make 15 bean soup for food today but Miss June says you can't cook beans on a cloudy day because for some reason they don't get done. So I'm thinking about what to make for supper tonight. There won't be any snacks for the football game, though.
I need to remember, too, that it's just not money I'm personally accountable to God for. It's everything. I'm thinking the money thing will help me through that as well, which brings me to my second story.
There is a lot of drama going on at work, and I kind of got mixed up in it a bit. I don't like office politics and what's going on at work is like a rerun of what I left at the Guard, but with bigger and better movie stars. There are lots of strong personalities involved. And I stuck up for someone.
Over the course of the week, though, I could feel myself getting in deeper and deeper and last night as I clocked out, I just kind of said to the Lord that I didn't like it. I was getting haughty and thinking more of myself than I ought. I was gonna say this or that and I'm not. I just asked God to help me be humble and to be a good employee.
When I got home, I opened my Promise Keepers devotional Bible and opened it to Micah, who tells us God wants us to "seek justice, have mercy, and walk humbly with your God". Sounds like good advice to me. The devotional on the other page was pretty much about work and our attitude at work. It's tough to not get caught up with things around us and it's easy to fall back on that position we know all so well. I just felt a growing distance between me and God last night and I asked Him to draw me nearer. I really think the whole work thing was causing that.
On Monday, I get a new boss. It will be time to throw all the bad things out that I've heard about this man and show him the respect he deserves for the position he's in. Only time will tell if he'll live up to the reputation that precedes him. I hope not. Regardless, it is what it is and I'll do just what I always do. I come back from breaks and lunch on time so that doesn't hurt me. I stay busy most of the time so that's not a real issue for me either. I spend a great deal of time avoiding the office politics which so far has worked out well for me.
As you think about this today, think about accountability. I know I'm seriously thinking about my trip to the store. What do I have to buy? What can I afford to buy? Because at the end of this day, I will give a reckoning to God for spending what I did. What would your list look like?
Today's post is all about accountability. That really got driven home the other day in the one area where I have a HUGE accountability problem. No, it's not sex. It's worse. It's money, and secondary to that, it's office politics. There are going to be two stories today, methinks.
Anyway, I was home on Thursday and in my typical snit about my lack of funds when that still, small voice says "I'm going to make you accountable to Me for every penny you spend." I was tired, but I heard it. Accountable not to Miss June, who told me to write down everything I spend in a tablet a few months ago (and I promptly ignored her), or anybody else, but to God Himself.
For every penny.
That drove accountability home. For the last three days, I've been doing that. Here's my accountability list. Thursday, I spent $1.75 in the vending machines at work, for a bag of pretzels and a roll of life savers. Friday I spent $5.02; the fiver was for a pizza lunch with the rest of my crew. The two cents was because I ran an errand for my roomie, who is ill, and was too shy (or embarrassed) to tell the cashier the automatic change thiingie shorted me the two pennies for her change. Being an honest man, i replaced the pennies myself.
Yesterday, I spent $10 at our church clean-up. I had $15. A young man who's down on his luck asked me yesterday if he could do some work while we were outside doing church cleanup. He swept the sidewalks and gutters and I paid him. I know what it's like to want.
I titled the post, Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues because those that know me well, know I was always about having fun. I liked to have a good time and never really cared about how I spent the money, hence the troubles I have now. They are of my own making and could have been sooooo much worse, save the grace of God. But now being personally accountable to God for every penny?
That's not going to be easy, but it does stop and make me think about spending money. I was going to make 15 bean soup for food today but Miss June says you can't cook beans on a cloudy day because for some reason they don't get done. So I'm thinking about what to make for supper tonight. There won't be any snacks for the football game, though.
I need to remember, too, that it's just not money I'm personally accountable to God for. It's everything. I'm thinking the money thing will help me through that as well, which brings me to my second story.
There is a lot of drama going on at work, and I kind of got mixed up in it a bit. I don't like office politics and what's going on at work is like a rerun of what I left at the Guard, but with bigger and better movie stars. There are lots of strong personalities involved. And I stuck up for someone.
Over the course of the week, though, I could feel myself getting in deeper and deeper and last night as I clocked out, I just kind of said to the Lord that I didn't like it. I was getting haughty and thinking more of myself than I ought. I was gonna say this or that and I'm not. I just asked God to help me be humble and to be a good employee.
When I got home, I opened my Promise Keepers devotional Bible and opened it to Micah, who tells us God wants us to "seek justice, have mercy, and walk humbly with your God". Sounds like good advice to me. The devotional on the other page was pretty much about work and our attitude at work. It's tough to not get caught up with things around us and it's easy to fall back on that position we know all so well. I just felt a growing distance between me and God last night and I asked Him to draw me nearer. I really think the whole work thing was causing that.
On Monday, I get a new boss. It will be time to throw all the bad things out that I've heard about this man and show him the respect he deserves for the position he's in. Only time will tell if he'll live up to the reputation that precedes him. I hope not. Regardless, it is what it is and I'll do just what I always do. I come back from breaks and lunch on time so that doesn't hurt me. I stay busy most of the time so that's not a real issue for me either. I spend a great deal of time avoiding the office politics which so far has worked out well for me.
As you think about this today, think about accountability. I know I'm seriously thinking about my trip to the store. What do I have to buy? What can I afford to buy? Because at the end of this day, I will give a reckoning to God for spending what I did. What would your list look like?
Comments
Post a Comment