Creating Margin

In yesterday's message, we saw a great video clip, God's pies, about stewardship of our lives, money and talents. We all struggle in today's culture with time, money and spiritual management.I am intrigued by the reality shows where the professionals come in and show the person a whole different way of living, dressing or disciplining their children. They usually throw out the unnecessary stuff. There is always this resistance at first but in the end you can see the freedom and excitement about a new way of living.How would you feel if an expert came in and helped you give away all the extra stuff in your house you don't need? Would you be willing to have a professional come in and open your eyes to see what you needed to remove or change in your life? In your wallet? In your time management? In your spiritual life?As a believer, Jesus demands that we transform, that we change the way we live and sometimes it takes someone from outside to show us that there is a better way, to show us a new perspective. That is what Jesus was trying to tell the Jews of his day. They were enslaved by their own culture and they didn't even know it.I remember a time when I was attending a conference in San Diego. We had some time to go to the beach so I rented a boogie board and headed out to catch a wave. I was out past the first wave for about 15 minutes when the life guard came swimming out to me. He shouted, “do you know what you are doing?” I didn’t know what to say. I grew up in California and I thought I knew what I was doing. I was just floating waiting for a wave. He said I was in a rip tide and he was there to help me get back in. So, I grabbed on and he pulled me to safety. I didn’t even know I was in trouble. That is so true with a lot of us concerning our life styles. We just float along with the world and if you let it , it will take you to a very dangerous place without you even realizing it. We end up in severe debt, or marital problems, or spiritual bankruptcy. If we are not willing to allow an outsider to come in and tell us if we are in trouble and make the changes they recommend, then we may end up in serious trouble.