It's Your Move

 "Unless you move the place where you are is the place where you will always be."  

- Ashleigh Brilliant 

I'm moving again.  

I calculated the other day that Merideth and I have now moved 22 times in 25 years of marriage.  Within the last year, we moved three times, including one that took us across the country.  

This particular move is across the street, though.  Literally, the house I am moving into is right across the street, and one house down.  It's a miracle how we got that house--the house where our entire family, including my parents will be living.   

I'm thinking that this move I am making now needs to be the last move I make for a very long time.  I am also thinking that I need to rent a huge dumpster and get rid of a bunch of stuff.  

Additionally,  I am realizing that I've been wearing the same work clothes for two days straight. This is not a good trend.  

All this moving caused me to recall a book by Reggie Joiner that I read some time ago.  In his book, Joiner talked about how (even though we make lots of moves in our lifetime) we were created to make one primary move: a move toward God.  

Joiner writes, "When you move toward God, it has a ripple effect on every other aspect of your life."  

I have known this to be so true for me.  Every single time I have sought God's will and God's way... Every time I have first moved toward God before all else... it's made an incredible difference in every aspect of my life--particularly in my relationships with the people around me.  

This is why Jesus declared that the "first and greatest" commandment was to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."  

This first move toward God opens your life up to the second part of the commandment, which is a move (Joiner's ripple effect) toward others.  Jesus outlined this by saying: "The second is like it.  Love your neighbor as yourself."  

May you move toward God today before you make any other moves.  Dedicate yourself to pursuing God first and foremost in your life, and then prepare yourself for the incredible ripple effects that will happen next, and the people you'll be moving toward as well.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.