How do you lose one shoe?
When I was in kindergarten and first few grades (ok…maybe longer), I remember frantically running around the house hunting for … one shoe. I’d have the other one on.
My mom laughed about it later, but I’m sure it was an irritant at the time. “How do you lose one shoe?”
You lose one shoe the same way you lose your way… by not paying attention. I’m sure I’d get home from school and be focused on whatever I wanted to do (which did not involve shoes). I’d be on my way to wherever, tossing my shoes as I went.
How often do I do that sort of thing now?
The Bible is full of admonitions to keep alert, be on guard, be watchful, be awake.
Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42)
Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13)
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
Practice being Alert
We must practice becoming aware of our thinking, and directing our focus where it belongs. I should have thought a half second about putting both shoes where I could find them.
Spiritually, I need to practice being on the alert day-by-day, moment-by-moment,
Alert against sin, temptation, and false teachers,
Actively alert in prayer, and
Joyfully alert for His coming.
Where do you put yourself on the “Alert” meter?
