WATCHWORD:
Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out. Ephesians 6:13-20 The Message
2 For a shepherd comes through the gate. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 He walks ahead of them; and they follow him, for they recognize his voice. John 10:2-4
Meditation:
The Whole Enchilada
Are you familiar with the phrase, the whole enchilada? A Mexican enchilada is typically a corn tortillas, filled with shredded chicken or beef, rice, beans, onion and peppers, then fried and seasoned with a sauce, that has a little heat to it. Yummy.
All that is true, but that is not what the slang term means. The Collins Dictionary of English slang phrases defines ‘The Whole Enchilada’ as “all of it; everything; the entirety of something.” You probably knew that. Have you ever heard the phrase, “kit and caboodle”? That came out of the military. Kit was a mess kit which consisted of a folded metal container that served as a plate and held a knife fork and spoon. The whole kit and caboodle would also include a cup with a folded handle. Over time the phrase came to mean, “all of it; everything; the entirety of something.” Hmm. Heard that before.
There are any number of other phrases that we use to reflect the idea of inclusiveness. How about the “whole ball of wax”, or “the whole 9 yards”. Many of these phrases came out of a very practical reference, that over time evolved to mean: “all of it; everything; the entirety of something.” There it is again.
That is the same message that Paul is trying to get across in his letter to the Ephesians and to us. I chose The Message version of the passage because it was more specific to Paul’s meaning of opening prayer to be inclusive, to drop all pretense and keep the focus on the Lord. His idea is that all kinds of prayer, at any time, prayer upon prayer. Every kind or prayer you can think of, draws us closer to God. Our Lord does not care if our mind wanders a little in our conversation with Him. Maybe we ask for something specific, and we speak it because our faith tells us that He is listening, and we know that prayer builds our spiritual strength. You trust Him. You give it all to Him. You give Him the whole enchilada, the whole ball of wax.
There are times when we don’t pray because we are smugly confident in our own abilities, and our pride redirects us. ‘I don’t need help’. David Gusik in the Enduring Word commentary on Ephesians, quoted Winston Churchill in a speech he made to Britain in the early days of the WW II. “I must drop one word of caution, for next to cowardice and treachery, overconfidence leads to neglect and slothfulness, and is the worst of wartime crimes.”
It may not feel like we are at war, but we are with ourselves and so many pressures that lead us away from our faith. I feel it has taken me a long time to begin to realize that my morning time with the Lord has become crucial to my day. The nature of that time has changed. I still read devotionals, I still read passages from the Bible, but the difference is they become part of my talk with the Lord. And the major change that I have experienced is listening, listening for God’s answer. It takes time but it requires that we pay attention.
It is like this: We are sheep under the care of our Good Shepherd and we have learned by intent and practice to know our Master’s voice. Take time. Practice. Listen! Amen.
Thought for the Day:
You need not want to do what is right, to do what is right.
The Hymn “Open My Eyes, That I May See,” Verse 2:
Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth thou sendest clear
And while the waves of notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I pray that when you speak to me, it will be clear. Give me the grace to hear your voice, in Word and circumstance and the grace to know when you speak, and the power to understand what you say. I pray for all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
