Practice What You Preach

This summer our family rented a house on the Chesapeake Bay for our vacation.  On the street leading to the house was a set of speed bumps.  Our granddaughter loved going over them and started raising her hands every time we approached one.  Before long, everyone in the car was raising their hands and a tradition was created.  It wasn't long before she had us raising our hands as we crossed railroad tracks, went through tunnels, and even turned into our street, where there is a rough section of pavement.  It's become such a family ritual that my husband and I do it when she's not even in the van.  (I know - we're weird....) 

If we ever forget to do it, Bella reminds all of us as we approach the landmark.  "Put your hands up, Mommy.  Put your hands up, Daddy. Mawmaw, Papaw - put your hands up!"

Today in the van, we went through an area behind a store where there were ten speed bumps and later in the trip three railroad tracks and the street to our house. Bella was so busy telling all of us to put our hands up that most of the time she forgot to raise her own.

I think we can be like that sometimes in our spiritual lives.  We give advice or encouragement to others, but sometimes we don't do the very thing we've just told them to do. It's easy to just say what we think is the right thing based on our own experience or biblical knowledge.  We can reduce navigating our journey to a formula of a verse or two of scripture and a pre-packaged prayer when what needs to happen is that we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit both in our own lives and as we minister to others.

Even in the life of a Spirit-filled believer, ritual and tradition can overtake the fresh, living, direction of the Spirit of God if we are not careful to maintain that connection.

I'm glad Bella finds such joy in very simple things, but I hope that she'll remember to focus on her own behavior and not on that of others as she grows and matures. The old adage "practice what you preach" is still good advice. Examine yourself with me and make sure that's exactly what you are doing.