(In 2017, I wrote this series for the 40 days prior to Easter to prepare our hearts and minds for the significance of Jesus’ resurrection.  I’m reposting the series now for the 40 days after Easter to encourage us to follow through, living in the risen Savior and King.)

I wish I could say that I always give good counsel to my children.  I don’t.

A while back, one of my kids came upstairs to ask me for some gloves so they could go play in the snow.  I was indisposed in our bathroom when I heard him come into our bedroom.  So he asked through the door, and I gave directions through the door as well as I could.

“Look in our big closet next to the fireplace. There’s a big blue Rubbermade container on the floor. In the top of it are a couple of sets of gloves. You’re welcome to use one of those.”

Then I heard him go downstairs – toward our other fireplace, I assumed.  And I wondered, “why is he going down there?!”

He came back in just a minute. “Dad, there is no closet by the fireplace.”  To which I countered (with some frustration), “Right behind you in our room!”  He found the gloves, thanked me and graciously left without another word.

I say that he was gracious because when I came out, to my embarrassment, I saw that there is no fireplace next to our closet.  There is a flat wall with a wooden frame in the position and size that a fireplace might have been at one time.  Maybe the builder intended to put one there and changed their mind later.  My wife and I had even regularly referred to the shelf above that area as the “hearth”.

The point is that I had slept in that room for a year and a half.  Yet, I didn’t remember that there was no fireplace there.  So much for my clarity and helpfulness in directions.

The Lord does a little better than that.

I count at least 32 times in the Gospel according to Matthew that Jesus started His teachings with, “Truly…” because the people had been fed so many distortions and plain old lies by the Pharisees and other teachers of the law.

If you’re looking for solid wisdom and practical help, turn to the One who made you for Himself.  He knows your heart, His plan for you, your circumstances and every detail of your life.  And He’ll never steer you wrong.

Never.

If you’d like to know more about who publishes the articles, videos, and other materials on tools4trenches, you can click on the picture of me and my wife.