Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Well, we are nine months into the year. Throughout the past months we've reaffirmed the significance of pacing ourselves and not allowing the tyranny of the urgent to blind us to the value of the important. Well . . . how's it going? Pause long enough to review and reflect as you answer these questions.

Nothing touches the human heart deeper than music. This is never more true than when a group of Christians sings heartily unto their Lord. Many a cold heart on skid row has melted as the strains of some old hymn lingered in steamy streets and sleazy alleys surrounding a gospel mission.

A young fella rushed into a service station and asked the manager if he had a pay phone. The manager nodded, "Sure, over there." The boy pushed in some change, dialed, and waited for an answer. Finally, someone came on the line. "Uh, sir, . . . could you use an honest, hardworking young man to work for you?"

How do you feel about intrusions? Like an early-morning knock at your door? Like a talkative passenger next to you on a packed-out flight? Like an injury or illness that strikes at the wrong time? Like the piercing ring of the telephone? Like the relentless, endless demands of small children?

If you question your depravity, check your attitude toward intrusions. Having a French origin, "intrude" emerges from two terms, meaning "to thrust in." An intrusion, therefore, is someone or something that thrusts itself into our world without permission, without an invitation, and refuses to be ignored.

Can you recall Jesus' radical philosophy: "Be a servant, give to others"? The basis of that statement is tucked away in Luke 9:23. Following Christ is a costly, unselfish decision. He says: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

I heard a statistic the other day that blew my mind. Anna Sklar, the author of a book called Runaway Wives, was a guest on a local talk show. In the course of the discussion, she cited that ten years ago, for every wife or mother who walked away from her home and responsibilities, six hundred husbands and fathers walked out.

Paul found himself between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to be in heaven but needed to be on earth. In a temporal sort of way, I share the same frustration every year on Super Bowl Sunday. . . . Now don't get me wrong. I love to preach. It's one of the few things I'd rather do than eat—as my wife can testify.

We salute visionaries of yesteryear. We shake our heads in amazement as we imagine the herculean courage it took to stand so confidently when the majority frowned so sternly. Looking back, we laud those who refused to take no for an answer. We quote them with gusto. We even name our children after them.

Micah isn't exactly a household word. Too bad. Though obscure, the ancient prophet had his stuff together. Eclipsed by the much more famous Isaiah, who ministered among the elite, Micah took God's message to the streets. Micah had a deep suspicion of phony religion.

All of us are surrounded by and benefit from the results of someone's quest. Let me name a few. Above my head is a bright electric light. Thanks, Tom. On my nose are eyeglasses that enable me to focus. Thanks, Ben. In my driveway is a car ready to take me wherever I choose to steer it. Thanks, Henry.

"My first direct view of Titanic lasted less than two minutes, but the stark sight of her immense black hull towering above the ocean floor will remain forever ingrained in my memory. My lifelong dream was to find this great ship, and during the past thirteen years the quest for her had dominated my life."

Is time passing faster, or am I just getting older? Can this really be the last hurrah of the summer? School can't actually be starting already, can it? I feel like swapping my calendar for a stopwatch. Today I have decided to slow down long enough to stop the blur and look. Not just to look, but to see.

To be "humble in heart," as Christ stated He was, is to be submissive to the core. It involves being more interested in serving the needs of others than in having one's own needs met. Someone who is truly unselfish is generous with his or her time and possessions, energy and money.

Our fast-lane living these days does not lend itself to the traits we have traditionally attached to godliness. Remember the old hymn we sang in church years ago? "Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; abide in Him always and feed on His Word. . . . Take time to be holy, the world rushes on."

In his fine little volume In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen mentions three very real, albeit subtle temptations any servant of Christ faces. They correspond with the three temptations our Lord faced before He began His earthly ministry. They also fit with three observations the apostle Paul mentions.

The nation to whom the prophet Isaiah wrote was going through the empty motions of a hollow religion. All the right words, all the right appearances, but zero results. They even fasted and prayed. I suppose we could say they looked and sounded orthodox, but they missed God's favor.

It was one of those backhanded compliments. The guy had listened to me talk during several sessions at a pastors' conference. All he knew about me was what he'd heard in the past few days: ex-marine . . . schooled in an independent seminary . . . committed to biblical exposition . . . noncharismatic . . . premil.

One of the occupational hazards of being a leader is receiving criticism (not all of it constructive, by the way). In fact, I firmly believe that the leader who does anything that is different or worthwhile or visionary can count on criticism. In this regard, I appreciate the remarks made by Theodore Roosevelt.

Making right decisions amidst dilemmas forces us to rethink our priorities. Choosing right priorities forces us to reconsider the importance of Christ in our lives. There are many voices these days. Some are loud, many are persuasive, and a few are downright convincing. It can be confusing.