This weekend, my son and I had an exciting quest to take some things to the dump. (I know that doesn’t sound very fun to some of you, but the big tractors, the massive piles of debris, and the removal of our clutter makes it pretty exciting) We loaded a trailer full of stuff that has been piled up in my back yard for five years.

When my wife saw the trailer, she provided some very true words. She said, “Now, there is a pile of good intentions”. She was so right. On that trailer were treated lumber, a fence, pipes, and even benches from a McDonald’s playground. I had collected those things with the intention of one day using all of them. Unfortunately, those things were probably never going to get done. My best intentions were not enough to produce anything with those resources.
It makes me think about my own Christian journey. How many good intentions do I have for higher things…more eternal things? How often do they end up in a pile with nothing to show for them? I have resources that God has given me, yet often I have not prioritized my life in such a way to do something with those resources. Check out the following words written by the Apostle Paul on this idea…
“8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.” -2 Corinthians 8:8-12 ESV
How do I prove that I have genuine love for others? How do I engage in things with eternal significance? By taking the resources God has given to me and using that for others. This can be money, material possessions, abilities, time, and many other things. Paul was encouraging the church in Corinth to do something with their good intentions. He told them to prove their love. He even used Jesus as an example of what it looks like to make a bold move with your intentions.
How about you? Have you ever felt a burden or even an excitement about doing something with eternal significance…only to find that it is a pile of good intentions? What would it take to do something with those intentions?
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While digging through the pile, Thomas and I noticed a pile of fur…


Thomas grabbed a stick to poke it. Out came a possum!



Thomas had fun chasing him through the yard until he disappeared into the woods.
You never know what type of adventure you will find when you stir up that pile of good intentions!
Posted in Discovery
Tags: 2 Corinthians 8, debris, dump, good intentions, Jason Miley, prove your love
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