Skip to main content

Don't Be Untethered!

When I was elementary school, we often played tether ball at recess.  The game is played with a ball that is attached to a rope which, in turn, is attached to the top of a pole.  The object of the game is for two players to hit the ball in opposite direction to the other and the winner is the one to cause it (the rope and ball) to wrap itself around the pole to the point in which the ball touches the pole. 

One time, while I was playing, the rope broke and the ball went flying.  As we stood watching it, wondering what in the world we were going to do, we realized it was “game over!”

The memory of playing tether ball was recently stirred when I heard the phrase “untethered from the Gospel”.  It also prompted me to look up the word tether and I found that it means to be connected to, joined to, or tied to.

As I scrolled through more definitions, I found that a tether is also an attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed.

Perhaps more relevant to younger people today is the definition pertaining to the world of technology:  tethering is the practice of using a mobile device (such as a smart phone) as a modem to connect another device, such as a laptop or another mobile phone to the internet

While tether is probably not a word commonly found in the Bible, it can point us to an important spiritual concept:  “But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one with him in spirit.”  (1 Cor 6:17)

We should be tethered to the Lord, as in joined to Him, in order that we can become one with Him in spirit.  In addition, we should be constantly connected to Him.  Our very lives, in fact, should be tied up in Him.

Furthermore, since we are, by nature, movable, we should be tethered to something that is steadfast (fixed and immovable):  “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”  (2 Thess 3:5)

Another way of looking at this is to think of it all in the opposite as in untethered as in being disconnected or disjoined or untied and those are places you never want to be!

So, tether yourself to the Lord and be one with Him in spirit.

And don’t be untethered from the Gospel!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...
1 comment
Read more

Don't Get Tripped Up

I do enjoy traveling and I keep an eye out for good prices. I also enjoy looking at trends in travel. For a while, the travel industry focused their advertising on taking those trips that might be on your bucket list.   That faded a bit and I started seeing ads about taking the trip of a lifetime. I guess both those campaigns have been waning since I’ve been seeing information about taking an “epic” trip.   Recently I noticed the phrase “unforgettable trip” in advertising.   More recently, I’ve been seeing promotions about taking “sustainable” trips and even “reconnecting to our roots” trips. As I’ve been pondering these advertising campaigns, I thought I’d consider what their ideas encompass and then look at them from a spiritual perspective: 1.   “ Bucket list trips ” are based on a list of the experiences a person might hope to have before they “kick the bucket” (i.e. die).   While I can certainly come up with a bucket list of trips, I’m thinking a bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Above My Pay Grade!

We like things that we can study, know and understand.  Sometimes we find it difficult to accept that there are things that might be hidden from our knowledge and understanding. The Scriptures indicate that there are some things hidden by design:  “The Lord our God keeps certain things hidden. But he makes other things known to us and to our children forever. He does it so we can obey all the words of this law.”  (Deut 29:29) Some versions of the Bible translate the hidden things as “secret things”.  Regardless, there are things which have been revealed and things which are kept hidden from us and remain secret. We may chafe at having to deal with the fact that some things remain hidden, but that’s often when faith and trust come in.  The Psalmist wrote:   “O Lord , my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.”  (Ps 131:1) The Psalmist seem to realize that th...
Post a Comment
Read more