Tuesday, October 19

For want of a nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

We rightfully need to keep our focus on the "battle and the kingdom", but unless we tend to the "nails" that keep the shoe on the horse, the battle for the kingdom can be lost.

For two years now, these seven nails have helped keep the shoe on the horse.

1) daily time spent with the King,
2) daily exercise for at least 30-minutes,
3) daily family readings/devotions/prayer,
4) daily one-on-one focused conversation with my wife giving her my full attention,
5) weekly date with my wife,
6) keeping the Sabbath (actually for us the Sabbath is Thursday),
7) at least one daily family sit-down-together meal.

While your list probably differs from my own above, I believe we must give adequate attention to some kind of basic life-maintenance rituals. To ignore these eventually leads to troublew. In our quest for seeing kingdom purposes fulfilled, I am learning that I must not ignore those small nails that keep the shoe on the horse.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

agree, routine that builds you up will also sustain you in times of crisis...me consta.

Ruth

J. Guy Muse said...

Ruth,

So true. If we tend to the "nails" we will be in much better shape to ride into battle.

Unknown said...

Guy, great to have you blogging again. This was wonderful. And I must say, your "nails" are nearly identical to the ones Heidi and I keep. Some of them I learned through scripture, some by common sense, some by accident, and some through failure.

J. Guy Muse said...

Gabe,

Though similar to our own list, I would still love to hear you share a bit about your own list, especially any differences you guys are putting into practice. Thanks for stopping by.