The Selfish Clown

So, I have a clown fish...a tomato clown fish, to be exact. His name is Tom.

Now, I was pretty pumped to get Tom. You see, he lives in our anemone. They have a symbiotic relationship, meaning that the anemone provides a safe shelter for the fish and the fish, in turn, feeds the anemone. At least...this is how its supposed to work.
Ever since we've gotten Tom, our anemone has not seemed to be very happy. He is constantly moving around the tank (thus why he got his tentacles stuck in the filter).

Well, last week, I went to feed the anemone and noticed that Tom decided to steal the shrimp out of the anemone tentacles and eat it for himself. Since then, I've been watching very carefully to see if our fishy friend is, in fact, feeding the anemone as he is supposed to. Turns out that he is not. We have a sel"fish" clown. Dang.

I woke up this morning thinking about this. My mind immediately drifted to how humans are sort of in a symbiotic relationship with God. God gives us peace, love, and a safe place. God provides us with comfort. God is always there for us.
Then there are humans. Yes, sometimes we do hold up our part of the symbiotic relationship by praising God and thanking God for our blessings. But most of the time...not so much.

We, like the selfish clown, do not hold up our end of the deal. We leave God hanging, so to speak. Why do we do that? Well, I'm not sure I have an answer, other than that we are just flawed beings, who seem to always mess up.

If we look at Tom as an example not to follow, then we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'm not too worried about it though, because God is a pretty forgiving deity. So, when we mess up, its not back to square one, but rather we just pick up and move on. Its the least we can do for someone who loves us so much. I'm just thankful God isn't like the anemone and doesn't pick up and leave every time I mess up.

Kind of heavy stuff to wake up thinking in the morning, I suppose. But, then again, its not every day you get to learn a life lesson from a fish.

Procrastination

I am sitting at my desk and for the last hour and a half, I have been trying to find things to do that I can finish up instead of writing the articles I need to write for the Chimes.

Why am I procrastinating, you may ask? Well, I'm not sure. I don't hate writing articles for the Chimes...I don't really mind it, in fact. But, there seems to be something in my nature that makes me want to procrastinate. I have done this since I was in college. I always seem to work better under pressure. Who knows why...I guess its just how God created me.

So, as you may have figured out, I am using this blog as a way to procrastinate. Probably not the best use of my time, as I have no idea how many youthies really read this thing anyway...but, I'm writing just the same.

As I was thinking about how much procrastinating I'm doing (despite that I am getting a lot done...just not the stuff that needs immediate attention), I was thinking about how I procrastinate in other ways in my life. Sure there are the every day things most of us procrastinate with - emptying the dishwasher, putting away laundry, cleaning out the fridge (gross!). But what about God?

How are you procrastinating in areas of your life that have to do with God? Have you been putting off spending time with God - reading your Bible or praying? Have you been putting off asking a friend to come to church because you aren't sure how they will react? Have you been putting off making the commitment to become more involved in church yourself?

In my life, if I decide to put something off, I become the MASTER of putting it off. In college, I dubbed myself "The Master Procrastinator." If I decided I'd do my devotions a little later...well, I would find tons of things to keep me from doing it until it had been put off for the whole day...not a great way to treat God, is it? He deserves so much more than the end of the day when we are tired and ready for sleep.

So, as I finish up this blog and get back to writing those Chimes articles (like I should be!), I want to stress the importance of NOT procrastinating with God. Spend time with Him...He deserves it. And not the "I'll do it later" time. God deserves your best time...your "right now" time. Lets not procrastinate any longer.