Check Your Settings

A few years back, I used to work on an engraving machine. For each job, I had to reconfigure the machine settings. Depending on the material, whether different types of wood, glass, or metal, I had to make adjustments to ensure the engraving laser would mark the material in a clear and crisp way.

That left me with a choice. I could use a general setting and engrave everything, producing more. That option resulted in an impressive amount of product, but the quality was average to poor in many cases, making a number of the pieces unusable.

Or, I could take the time and analyze the uniqueness of the material and figure my settings on each item. I would not have produced as much, but what I did, would be good quality.

So here's my point without carrying on, boring you, and re-traumatizing myself with math equations to get my settings right.

Every day is new.

Whether you experience it or not is up to you. You've read the verse, "His mercies are new every morning," (Lamentations 3:22,23) and then have announced that this week is going to be bad, uneventful, or scary. This, I believe, is where the point presented on Sunday fits so perfectly.

"Following Jesus demands something from you... and God gives you the freedom to choose how much of Him you experience." -Pastor Pete

You can opt to keep your settings the same and just live a mediocre life - go to all the groups and services, do "all the things" which look impressive in quantity. Or, you can look at you own life settings and adjust them by situation.

Here are some available settings you can choose from: personal study, fellowship, prayer and fasting, serving, giving, sharing Hope with others, and worshiping together.

(AKA our growth ingredients!!!!!)

Do you have a prodigal child?

Then crank up your prayer and fasting settings.

Is there a need in the church?

Then increase your giving levels.

Is there a neighbor or community around you that is eternally dying?

Then turn up the dials of service and evangelism.

Do you have to figure all this out on your own? Nope! I can't tell you how many groups I joined and how many people I asked who were more experienced than I was about how to perfect my engraving. I think you can apply this to your walk with God too. You can learn what adjustments need to be made listening to sermons. Additionally, you can find someone in the church that has successfully walked through something you are currently struggling with. What if you went out to lunch or coffee with that person and just asked them how they made it through?

Here's the core question: What do you believe about the character of Jesus, and what kind of mark do you want to leave in response?

It's easy to live on autopilot, but it's an intentional, calculated choice to leave a lasting mark.

Take time to reflect:

What do you believe about the character of Jesus?
How much of Him do you want to experience?
Are you on autopilot?
After taking the temperature of what is happening around you and what you want to see, what settings need adjusting?
Is there someone further along that you can meet with to get advice?
GET TO IT!