Who's Calling?

 Accept or decline? Most of us see these two buttons when a call comes on our cell phone. The accept button is green and the decline button is red. In the terms of the traffic lights, green is associated with go and red is associated with stopping. When we see a phone call come through, we have two choices. We can either accept or decline the call. In other words, we can answer the call or not answer the call. If you have caller ID, the name and phone number will appear. If they are in your contact list on your cell phone, their name (person or organization) will show. If it's a spam call, it will usually be labeled as potential spam. Oh the beauty of caller ID 😀! The caller ID allows us to see who wants our attention on the other side of the call. Then, there are the times when someone will call you and you don't recognize the phone number. It could be someone you know that is not in your contacts or they are using someone else's phone. They could have also gotten a new number, which is another reason why we may not recognize the number. If we don't recognize the number at first, we can usually identify pretty quick if it's someone you know based on their voice and information they're saying on the other end. We can also ask questions to better know who's on the other end. A few months ago, I was riding with a family member and her phone rang while we were riding. She looked at the display to see the name of the person and declined to answer. Well, the same person called back again and she responded the same way. She hit decline. She would talk to that person eventually. At the moment, it had to be delayed as she didn't have time for what the person on the other end was going to say because she knew from previous conversations what was going to be said. She did call another family member and shared with them the situation, so it was handled. It was in that moment it hit me! We don't have to answer everything that wants our attention. Think back to what I said earlier about how someone calling wants our attention. There are many things in life that want our attention, but we have the choice whether we respond and how we respond if we do. In the Scriptures in Colossians 3:5-9. it tells us things we should not respond to. Things that will cause us to act and live impure, selfish, greedy, tell lies and speak wrong words should not be accepted. In the Scriptures in Romans 12:9, 14-19, it tells us more things we should not respond to, but it also includes what we should respond to. The verses tells us not to respond with pride (v.16), revenge (v.17, 19) or evil with evil (v.21). Instead, we should only answer to what is being done in love (see I Corinthians 13:4-7 that describes love in action) and engage in peaceful interactions 💗. We should not answer to anything that goes against what God's Word says. In order to know that, we must take time to study and read the Scriptures for ourselves. Knowing the Word will help us keep it stored in our hearts and help us not do wrong, so we can stay on the path of God's commands (Psalms 119:11, 35) 🙏. When we have the Word in us, we're more likely to decline anything that will waste our time. Now there is a time to answer and respond to the phone calls that come from our family, friends, work, community and medical offices to take care of what is needed 💗. You may be able to answer the call right then. You may have to wait and delay it until later like my cousin did that day during the car ride. In the case of a spam call or someone you don't know, you may not answer the call at all. In our lives, we, have to be wise in what and who we allow to be in our lives. When seeing what wants our attention, we have to check the source before we answer. If we don't know at first, let's ask, "Who's calling?" A response or a lack of a response will help us decide our next steps. Decline and say "bye" to the things that lead us to feel drained, exhausted and on the wrong path. Let's say "hello" to things that lead us to feel peace, loved, valued and on the right path. Accept or decline? We get to choose every day what we will accept or decline. Remember to choose wisely because the choice is ours 🙌!!