Monday, February 11, 2008

Sorting Things Rightly

Today I’m turning my attention to taxes. That means it’s time to sort. I’ve got everything in a pile, which is at least a start. Now I’ve got to start sorting. I’ve got to sort 2007 stuff from 2008 stuff. Then I have to sort the 2007 stuff – what I need for taxes, what I just need to keep, what I can toss. Oh yeah, I also have to sort all the tax forms and publications – Federal, state, township, and all the statements I’ve gotten to go with them.

It’s funny, the actual doing of the taxes isn’t a big deal. It’s the sorting that makes the doing possible. If I sort well and have everything in order then the rest just kind of works.

Puritan Thomas Manton talks about the importance of sorting well in our spiritual lives.

“All trouble comes from not right sorting and comparing things: seeking that on earth which is only to be had in heaven, and seeking that in the creature which is only to be had in God, and looking for that from self which is only to be found in Christ, and seeking that in the law which is only to be had in the gospel.”

- Thomas Manton, The Life of Faith (Fearn, Great Britain: Christian Focus, 1997), 31. (this quote comes from the brothers at First Importance)

As you look at the pile of life before you this week, keep this in mind as you start sorting it out.

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