Intent

Often I feed my turtles live fish.  Minnows, goldfish, anything I can get for fairly cheep not excluding clams and snails go in the tank.  When it comes to feeding a turtle's intent is easily seen.  Jaws open, necks snapping forward, legs propelling that amazing shell through the water at speeds matching those of the fleeing fish all work together for one purpose.  In a way it is ruthless.

One does not often associate ruthlessness with something good.  Ruthlessness is a trait that is usually an indicator of psychopathic behavior.  When my Western Painted Turtle feeds she is ruthless in the way nature is ruthless when it comes to killing.  What is her intent?  I have no idea!  Nor do I really want to know.  Animals act by instinct, not by reasoning.  I know!  Your dog is so smart he or she thinks things through!  Really?  Put your dog with another and offer some food.  What happens?  Both dogs will act like this is the first piece of food they've seen for days, and devour it quickly because instinct tells them it may be the last for days.  I keep a full bowl of dog food for my dogs in the family room, more than enough food for all three, yet they will still fight over it.  Josh eats first!  He may be the smallest but he rules the roost!  Cookie and Sophie eat together but will still nip at one another.  Why?  Instinct.  Not reason.

Each day I put a fresh bowl of water on the porch for the dogs.  Cookie drinks out of the turtle tank.  Josh can't reach it or he would too.  Sophie is the same.  The water in the dish is much cleaner and clearer than the water in the turtle tank!  Why does she drink from the turtle tank?  I have no idea!  Her instinct is to drink water from any source available, including our toilet!  Ew!  She, like my turtles, is a creature of instinct, not reason.

I, on the other hand, am able to reason.  Therefore I do not act by instinct, but by reason.  Yet watching the turtles and the dogs eat is a good lesson for one who wishes to elevate his or her intent.  With the same eagerness that my turtles go after fish or other food, and my dogs eat food and treats I can devour God's Word.  Realizing almost immediately that to elevate my intent required this kind of hunger for God's Word I evaluated myself.

First I identified the principle that would bring the results I wanted.  Devour God's Word voraciously!  Second I recognized that I needed help to create this hunger, this change in me, and I sought it.  Whole hearted desire is the key and my mind went immediately to Scriptures I know and love, even though they often convict me.  Deuteronomy 6:5–Love the Lord your God with your whole heart!  Mind, body, soul!  Psalm 119:2–How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart.  Proverbs 3:5–Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  Jeremiah 29:13–You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with your whole heart.  Joel 2:12–"Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  James 4:7-10–Submit therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be miserable and mourn and week; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.  (James tells us what wholehearted devotion looks like.)

Last, I realized that I need to behave my way into the person I want to be.  When I became diabetic I had to change my diet and lifestyle.  To lose weight I need to change my diet and lifestyle.  Exercise is necessary!  To elevate my intent I need to change my disciplines to include more of God's Word, more time for prayer and especially for contemplation.  My passion must become knowing Christ intimately so that I may act accordingly.

I've known men and women who have sacrificed everything to gain a position in a company, or succeed in business.  How many, I wonder, in the church would sacrifice everything to become the person Christ intended!  Do I, because I am afraid, seek a safe life, instead of live life fully in His service?  All too often!  Wretched man that I am!  Who will set me free from the body of this death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 7:24-8:1)

These missionaries died for their Lord.  They had rifles and could easily have defended themselves against the people attacking them.  It was more important for them that those very people have a chance to come to know Christ than for them to live.  So they chose to die.  Their love for God, and therefore for their mission to that tribe (for the lost) was so great that their love for family paled in contrast.  Living safely wasn't an option for them.  Living wholeheartedly for God was everything to them.  I was inspired by their testimony as a young man, and read all the books written by Elizabeth Elliot.  Does my intent toward my Lord match that devotion?  It should.  I pray that it will.