Just hanging around?

Often while reading, a paragraph, sentence, phrase or merely a word will jump off the page and stick in my mind. Thought-pictures form around it and inspiration, conviction or simply a new angle from which to look at something is birthed. This happen quite often when I read from the book, The Valley of Vision. The Valley of Vision is a book of Puritan prayers that will humble you, grip your heart and bring you to the foot of the Cross. Those who don't like to think of themselves as anything but victorious saints and royal children of God and worthy of every possible blessing may not care for this book. Those who think more along the lines of the Apostle Paul, who thought of himself as “the chief of all sinners” (Timothy 1:15) and a “wretched man” ( Romans 7:24) will appreciate this wonderful book. Understand, however, this book does not dwell on our lowliness, but focuses on God's loftiness.

I will share a few lines from one of these prayers and point out the word that has been rolling around in my brain for about a week now. The prayer is entitled, Christlikeness:

May my words and works allure others to the highest walks of faith and love!
May loiterers be quickened to greater diligence by my example!
May worldlings be won to delight in acquaintance with thee!
May the timid and irresolute be warned of coming doom by my zeal for Jesus!
Cause me to be a mirror of thy grace, to show others the joy of thy service,
May my lips be well-tuned cymbals sounding thy praise,
Let a halo of heavenly-mindedness sparkle around me and a lamp of kindness sunbeam path.

Wow!

The word that has set up camp in my mind is, “loiterers.” A really interesting word when applied to the Christian life. I looked up “loiter” in the dictionary and found these definitions:
1.to linger aimlessly or as if aimless in or about a place
2.to move is a slow, idle manner, making purposeless stops in the course of a trip, journey, errand, etc.
3.to waste time or dawdle over work

Wow!

I am sure you would agree, there are sure a lot of "Christian loiterers!" The question we each need to ask ourselves is, “Am I one of them?”

If we have loitered, let us quicken our pace!