This is the Day

Twelve times a year I celebrate the first day of the new month. It’s a day in which I rejoice in the blessings of God and the life He’s given me, and I do so by filling it with little activities and actions all geared towards making the day special in some way. I do simple things like putting new pictures in picture frames, going out for breakfast, or changing my schedule around to include some playtime instead of just work on that day.

One day during a discussion of “firsts” in our lives I shared with my pastors my practice of first-of-the-month celebrations. Quite naturally they asked me what kind of things I do to mark the day. And suddenly I found myself hesitant to tell them, afraid that my little ceremonies would sound frivolous in light of the spiritual discussion we were having at the time.

In thinking about the situation again later, however, I asked myself what is wrong or unspiritual about simply enjoying life? Repeatedly in the Bible we are told to rejoice in our salvation. Not just once a month, but every day it gives God joy to see me enjoying the world He created and the blessings which fall from His Hands, in whatever way I choose to do so. No activity is unspiritual if it’s done with gratitude in one’s heart towards Him.

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
(Psalm 118:24 NIV)

Spot Mop Your Walk

Keeping the floors looking beautiful is one of management’s top priorities in the grocery store where I work. Therefore twice a year or so the store locks its doors in defiance of the normal open-24-hours policy in order to strip off the old wax and apply a shiny new coat. In between those times, however, the floor is kept clean by an employee who regularly walks up and down the aisles, a mop in one hand and a spray bottle in the other. He squirts water on any dirty spots he finds and wipes the floor clean and dry with the mop. Daily every inch of the floor is inspected and treated as necessary.

Jesus tells us in John 13 that our spiritual lives need the same kind of attention. At the beginning of our walk with the Lord each of us was washed clean when we repented of our sins and made Him the Lord of our lives. And there may be other times in our spiritual journey when we have to shut down completely and ask for forgiveness for some major sin we’ve allowed into our lives. But most of the time we just need to inspect ourselves daily, ask the Holy Spirit to point out areas in our walk that are spotted with sin and then be washed in Living Water to be made clean and fresh once more. Not only does such action keep us in right relationship with God, but it keeps our spiritual journey attractive to those who may be shopping for something more in theirs.

“Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet;
his whole body is clean…’”
(John 13:10 NIV)

Spiritual Driver's License

Desperate to get his driver’s license, my 16-year-old son waited nervously for the driving examiner to approach the car. Confident of his abilities on the road, it was the maneuverability portion of the exam that was a challenge to him. Steering the vehicle forward and back, to the right and to the left without hitting the orange cones on the corners of the test area had been to this date more than he could manage. After his first failed attempt he’d spent several hours in empty parking lots practicing the maneuvers. What once had seemed next to impossible he now could do successfully almost every time. Despite the knots in his stomach he believed he could pass the test today.

We face the same struggle in the spiritual realm. Before God places us behind the wheel of any ministry He tests us, sometimes repeatedly, to see if we can operate spiritually within the boundaries He’s designated, moving forward and back, to the right and to the left at His command. Like my son we sometimes try to move ahead before we’re ready and are frustrated by God’s insistence that we remain in training a little longer. But soon the day comes when we find that we can move in the spiritual realm around whatever obstacles the enemy places before us with ease. It’s then that God can trust us with the keys that unlock the doors to ministry and sends us on our way, confident in our ability to bring ourselves and our spiritual passengers safely Home.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved; a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)

The Shepherd's Voice

A devout believer, a friend of mine couldn’t understand why she was having difficulty hearing God’s voice. She assumed that He just wasn’t talking to her. I tried to explain to her that God talks to all of us all the time. She just had yet to learn how to differentiate His voice from all the others that call out to her on a regular basis.

The woods around our house are host to a large population of red-bellied woodpeckers, and for a long time I assumed that I’d never heard one call. Eventually I associated a peculiarly throaty birdsong with this particular species and suddenly realized that I’d been “hearing” it for years - I just hadn’t made the connection between the two. Once I learned to recognize the call I was able to readily identify it in the midst of all the other bird chatter that I hear regularly. I was thrilled to be able to tell when one was near, just from the sound of its voice.

Likewise it takes time spent in God’s presence for a new believer to recognize His voice when He speaks to her. Yet once we learn what it sounds like we recognize Him speaking to us wherever we are and whatever else we may be doing. From that point on we won’t confuse it with any of the other voices that compete for our attention in the spiritual realm.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
(John 10:27 NIV)

The Scope of my Scoop

I accidentally left the pitcher I use to scoop birdseed in the bag of bug-infested sunflower seeds I threw away yesterday. For a minute I considered digging it out of the trash, which at that moment was sitting out on the side of the road, waiting the collector's imminent arrival. God must've smiled when I decided instead to find another scoop, as that was what He intended all along.

He's been talking to me lately about the measure with which I've been doling out seed - not sunflower seeds, of course, but financial seed, especially. He's been challenging me to use a bigger scoop.

There was a reason my bag of sunflower seed went bad. I let it sit for too long. Moths found their way inside, and the resultant worm-like larvae ruined the seed. If I'd used it in greater measure each day it would have gone to its intended use. And God is telling me that my financial resources will similarly go to waste if I don't scoop them out in greater measures towards the purposes for which He's supplied them.

My spiritual bag of seed doesn't just contain my finances. The same principles apply in using all the gifts I've been given with which to bless others. I need to freely sow God's love into the lives I come across each day. The faster I empty my bag of seed, the sooner I'll receive a new supply.

I simply need to use a bigger scoop.

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."
(Proverbs 11:24 NIV)

School Prayer

I was driving my kids to their first day of school when I saw her – a mother with her three kids on the driveway of their home, gathered in a circle and holding hands. There was no doubt what they were doing – they were praying as they waited for the school bus to arrive.

I suddenly realized that I had done everything else that morning but that. My kids surrounded me, dressed in their new school clothes, their favorite lunches packed in their new lunchboxes, all the necessary school supplies stowed away in their backpacks. And yet I’d forgotten to pray. Their hearts were full of the excitement of seeing their friends again, but I’d neglected to have them visit with their best Friend before setting off in the car.

This woman didn’t forget that. While I was dressing my kids, she was addressing their Father. While I was loading their backpacks, she was lifting their burdens to the Lord. While I fed my children breakfast, knowing they’d be starving again by lunchtime, she fed hers food that never fails to satisfy. In all my rushing around to make sure mine would get to school on time, she’d taken the time to wrap hers in their Father’s love.

How sad if we get everything else right but miss the one thing they need most of all. There’s something so much more important than what we put in their lunches and book bags… it’s what we put in their hearts.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33 KJV)

Recording Wrongs

"One… two… three…," I counted as I moved across the grass, bending repeatedly to retrieve the empty pop cans now squished flat after my son and his friend had gleefully ridden their go-cart over them the evening before. I'd stood at the window that night, watching them litter the lawn with the aluminum containers that they used for obstacles to drive around and targets to aim at, the boys relishing the resounding crunch each time one of them was smashed by a wheel.

Darkness had dropped too quickly for them to clean up the cans that night, and my son's early work schedule prevented him from completing the task before he left home the next day. The need to cut the grass before his return that evening forced me to perform the pickup duties myself. I tallied the cans as I gathered them, so that I could later impress upon my son the magnitude of the work I'd done for him.

Suddenly the Lord stopped me, instructing me to pick up the rest without counting how many of them there were. As I did so He reminded me that He hadn't kept track of the number of times He'd had to forgive me that day. Neither had He counted the minutes He'd hung on the cross for my sins. After all, it was a lot easier to use my hands to pick up a few cans than to have the same stretched across the beam of a cross and nailed to the splintered wood beneath them.

The next time I'm tempted to record another's wrongs I'll remember instead to count the ways my Savior loves me, and offer a little mercy myself as a result.

"Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?"
(Matthew 18:33)