The Blank Contract

Did you ever have an “Etch a Sketch”? Or maybe your children did. You could draw a picture and if it didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to, you just turned some knobs that cleared the screen and you could start all over.

LIFE IS NOT LIKE THAT!!!!

2011 is a blank screen … but there are no knobs to clear it and start over. When 2011 is through, the picture of what happened during each of those days is permanent.

When you think of next year, are you optimistic? Or do you dread what might happen? Do you think you are in control? Have you given up on having any input in what happens and you are just going along with the flow?

IS GOD IN CHARGE OF YOUR FUTURE?

In Genesis 12, there is a story of a man named Abram. He had comfort and security and was 75 years old. And God said, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.”

In Hebrews 8 it says, “He went without knowing where he was going.” The Message Bible says, “When he left, he had no idea where he was going.” I can’t imagine what it was like to be asked to leave it all behind … to pack up and go … “not knowing where he was going.”

Talk about a blank contract.

That’s like loading up the U-Haul and heading down the highway … trusting God to tell you which highway to take next … and then what town to stop in and buy a house.

Is God trying to lead you to a place of greater service and usefulness for Him?

When you sign a contract, what do you do first? You read it. You know exactly what it says. And if the terms are acceptable … then you sign. When God called Abram, He basically told Abram to sign the bottom line and trust Him to fill in the details. What do you think Abram had to weigh in  his mind before signing that blank contract? How long do you think it took him? How long would it take you or me?

When God calls us to give our lives to Him, He seldom fills in the contract up front. Part of faith is to sign on the bottom line and trust God to do the best for us in the contract. What do you and I have to weigh as we face 2011?

Are we willing to sign at the bottom of God’s blank contract?