Those two words are some of the biggest that I can think of. Not necessarily on the syllable level but more in the context of what that means, at ITG we desperately try to live out an intentional life. We try to examine every action, every interaction, every word, every thought to ensure that we are being what God desires. Now I do not want that to come off pious because I am not saying that it always happens I am just describing what we are trying to live out. And I am sure that anyone that knows us personally can point out an area of hypocrisy in that however the fact remains the same; we are very serious about living intentionally
One of our daughters recently told us that we intimidate her friends because we always look so serious and they know that we are not going to tolerate foolishness. And that brings a smile and a frown all at the same time. We do not ever want to come across intimidating; but I do want to be seen as intentional. As I was reading this morning I can to this verse in the first chapter of Jeremiah:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 ESV
Now that sounds intentional, this verse is a word from the Lord to Jeremiah about the purpose of his life. And if that is God’s methods, meaning that He creates us with an intentional purpose then why should we live in a way that is unintentional. But I think what happens is that we let the busyness of life take over our intentions. And we allow our exhaustion from that busyness collapse our intentions. And then we begin to allow the culture to dictate our intentions.
For example: do we truly consider Halloween and is origins and purposes before we as believers celebrate it? Do we consider that Deuteronomy 18:9-14 prohibits believers from entertaining divination, fortune telling, sorcery, wizardry, and necromancy because it is an abomination to the Lord. Do we live intentionally in the world to be a light rather than be of the world and let culture dictate the things that we accept into our lives and our homes? I know that might have been a hot button topic as an example and if I did upset you please know that was not my intention.
My intention is to urge and cause us as believers to think about what we do and more importantly why we do what we do.
Tyler