God's 10-10-10

"Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of fine clothing, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." [1 Peter 3:3,4]

"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." [Ecclesiastes 12:13-14]

How we dress, the jewelry we wear, even the car we drive and where we live - these are not the things that God cares about. These are man's concerns alone. What God cares about is what is in our hearts. Everyone's heard the saying, "beauty is only skin deep." Well it's true. The beauty God desires has nothing to do with our physical appearance either. His view of beauty is pretty clear: a gentle and quiet spirit. He calls the inward adorning of that spirit an imperishable jewel. That's pretty clear to me.

How do we go about accomplishing this gentle and quiet spirit in an incessantly loud and busy world? How do we carve out the kind of life that affords us gentleness and quiet? How do we live apart and still function in the world - which is certainly a necessity for our physical survival, if nothing else? That's pretty clear as well: fear God and keep his commandments. The writer of Ecclesiastes goes so far as to tell us that's our only responsibility! Or at least it's the only one we should be certain we fulfill.

I hope no one assumes I have the answers! I only know that when I deliberately and intentionally draw away and spend quiet time with God, the rest of my life seems to be in order. Well . . . more order than when I don't even bother to seek God's guidance and just run headlong into my day. I have counseled some friends that it may mean getting up a few minutes early several times a week. The understandable response for these overstressed, overworked men and women was a loud groan. Many of them are already arising before dawn to fit in everything they need to get done in a day.

Another suggestion I make is one I only recently began to follow - and it's even tougher to do: get rid of some of the items on your "to do" list. Your kids will turn out just fine even if they're not involved in thirty-seven different leagues and teams and organizations - trust me! You won't feel any less fulfilled when you're 75 if you opt not to serve another term on the PTA or church administrative board, or not to be the "go to" person for a million and one other activities and events in your world. Trust me.

No, trust God. It's pretty clear what's important to Him. I don't really want to think about facing Him at the end of time and having to tick off all the ways I lived in obedience - to Him and to man. That puts a genuine and deep fear of God in me. More than that, I recently read an article in a magazine about a woman who adopted a 10-10-10 way of setting priorities for herself - a mother of several children working a high-profile job. She said she asks herself what will be the impact of my choices and my decisions about how to allot my time be in 10 minutes, in ten days, and in ten years? It's not a new concept, but it reminded me to keep my perspective-and to keep my focus on God and what is important to Him. Today, let's use God's 10-10-10 rule for all our decisions, and strive to acquire the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit.