3 Companies, 3 Trajectories

2nd Peter 3 gives us the encouragement to grow in our walk with the Lord:
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.   It's important that we recognize that God wants us to grow spiritually, and He has given us powerful tools to do that - tools such as His Word or the power of His Spirit, convicting us of sin and enabling us to exercise power over the sin that would cause us to be unproductive in our lives.    And through prayer, we can fellowship with God and gain a greater sense of His plan and presence for our lives.  Proverbs 4 can gives us some cause to reflect on the path of our lives:11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life.   Three companies are in the news today:  first of all, there's Facebook, which will be issuing its Initial Public Offering, or IPO, this week, attempting to attract investors who are willing to purchase stock in a growing company.   There's also JP Morgan/Chase, that just took a $2 billion loss late last week.   And, there's Yahoo!, whose board of directors just fired their CEO, due in part to some false information about a degree that was included in his bio, but that he never actually received.  I think these 3 companies may can give us just a bit of inspiration as we evaluate our walk with Christ in various areas of our lives.   You have Facebook, which is on an upward trajectory - doing a lot of the right things and making progress.  And, I would hope that there are areas that we have identified that need some attention and we are seeing improvement.    JP Morgan reminds us that there are some areas where we're not seeing success, and we haven't yet made the necessary course corrections in order to reverse the downward trend or even the downward spiral - and if there are areas that aren't working for us spiritually, we have to identify them and take word-centered, Spirit-infused action.   And, as Yahoo! teaches us, if there are some areas where we have sinned, where we have "missed the mark", then we follow 1 John 1:9, confess our sins, receive Christ's forgiveness, and head in a different direction.    And, there may be areas which fall under all 3 of those categories currently in our lives - I am thankful that God's Word offers us the tools to identify, to grow, to adjust, and to enjoy the freedom we have in Christ.