Matthew 10:16. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

'Living intentionally' sounds a bit strange, like saying, "If I didn't intend to live I would be dead..."

It isn't that kind of 'intend.' It is 'intentionally' as opposed to 'haphazardly' or 'chaotically' or 'adrift.'

When I say, "I'm going to live until I die." I'm not saying "I'll keep breathing until I quit."

I'm saying that I'm going to breathe life, taste life, enjoy life, LIVE life to the extent most satisfying until I die.

That, for me, is 'living intentionally.'

We can't negotiate the dangerous paths in life if we aren't living intentionally. We must be living life with 'both eyes wide open.'

In Matthew 10 and Luke 10 the story is related about the disciples being sent into the villages. They were to enter each village/home with a greeting of peace.

They were also to enter "wise as serpents and harmless as doves."

They were to be perceptive, cautious, aware, shrewd, intelligent - wise. They were also to be without deviousness, innocent, not manipulative, without malevolence - harmless.

Living in that manner requires discipline. It requires 'intentionality.'

It has been said that we do evil naturally, we do good intentionally.

God has called us to "do good," bring peace - and to not become enticed by evil.