The Knot in our Rope

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:1-2.

One of my prayers for my husband Bruce is that the Lord would feed the ‘insatiable brain’ that He gave Bruce. His brain never rests…the pad with scribbles on the nightstand proves it. Over the years I can’t tell you how many nights I have awakened to the faint glow of a flashlight as he added to a list, began a list or was trying to work out a problem. He has retired from being a former nuclear industry consultant but has taught and deemed himself to be a lumberjack on our property. He has watched many videos on YouTube on how to safely and successfully drop 50-foot trees. He has ordered the items needed to stay safe and those needed to have control on where the trees fall. He purchased a book on the numerous knots that gave the greatest strength. But one knot seemed to frustrate and challenge him relentlessly …the button knot which apparently has an unbelievable ability to lessen the weight of trees. It allows him to carry and move the excessive burden of what he normally would be unable to accomplish. In order to tie this knot, he finally thought of a way to successfully weave the two strands of rope forming the knot. He took a gold sharpie and drew a stripe on one of the strands to better show which strand was the one to weave into the knot. It was the ‘identifier’ that would show the way to form the tightest and most secure knot. He finally had success!

This morning in my devotion time I read a simple question a woman had once asked Beth Moore, author of Chasing Vines. The woman asked her, ‘What is the knot in your rope?’ I immediately thought of Bruce and the button knot. We live in a world where we must navigate through the challenges of right and wrong, obedience and compromise, spiritual focus or earthly focus. It is easy for the focus on the world to get entwined with our spiritual life which forms a knot of weakened faith. All the strands begin looking the same and there is no real identifier for our faith. If we don’t weave Christ into our lives, we lose all spiritual focus. We as believers have been raised with Christ so our lives should be marked with the stripes that He bore for us. When He is clearly the knot in our rope, we can bear the burdens because of His strength, not our own strength. When we seek the things that are above, we don’t feel the full weight of this world because we were never meant to. The more our knot is marked with Christ the greater joy we can discover while here. In God’s economy the more focus on the next life brings abundance in this life.

‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33