My office has many windows. This can be a good and a bad thing. On gray and blustery days (like we've been having...), it makes my office dark, depressing, and cold. I find that a little extra diet coke or a nice, hot cup of coffee is necessary on those days! But on a sunny day like today, it means that my office is brighter, warmer, and happier. I love days like this. Sunshine just has a way of affecting my attitude and my motivation. It is not that I hate a gray day. Those can be good and productive days, too. Gray days are some of the best days to curl up with a good book or spend extra time in silence and prayer. Each day - gray or sunny - has something to offer.
But there's something about a bright, sunny day that affects us. It gives us...energy...hope. It invigorates us. I don't think this is a bad thing. Sunshine is God's ideas...and so is shade. Both types of days ought to teach us something. Perhaps sunshine invigorates and gray days cause us to contemplate. Maybe for some of you it is something completely different. One thing is sure, thought. Everyday is a day that the Lord has given us and that alone ought to cause us to praise him - sunshine or rain.
Roald Dahl, author of the peculiar Willy Wonka books, once said, "Watch with glittering eyes the world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely of places." I've framed this quote and placed on my desk here at work. It serves as a reminder to me just to be present each day and take notice of what God is doing and saying around me. I am not sure that is what Dahl was aiming for with his words, but that is what they inspire in me. May they do the same for you.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Living Free
Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again."
- Galatians 5:1 (CEV)
What does it mean for us to live free? It is clear that God desires it for us, but how do we do it? How do we hold on to our freedom and fight our tendency toward enslavement? Why do we so often choose a life slavery over the free life that we have in Christ?
God wants us to experience true freedom in this life. He wants for us to experience joy and freedom in Christ now. But very few who call themselves Christians are really living free. We are trapped by our own ideas of what a Christian should look lie. We are enslaved to what others think of us. We are bound by our culture. We are tangled in a web of rules we have created for ourselves.
"You were called to be free."
- Galatians 5:13a
I dare you to do it. Live free. Loose the chains of the law and live out of the overflow of your love for God and for others. I guarantee you that you will fail if you attempt to do this on your own. But connect yourself to Christ, walk with him in the details of the everyday, and you will succeed.
There is this old hymn that I love called "Make Me A Captive, Lord." It was written by George Matheson in 1890, but the words still speak to us today. I believe the first verse really captures what freedom in Christ ought to look like. Make these words into your prayer that you might live free now.
"Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand."
- Make Me a Captive, Lord by George Matheson
- Galatians 5:1 (CEV)
What does it mean for us to live free? It is clear that God desires it for us, but how do we do it? How do we hold on to our freedom and fight our tendency toward enslavement? Why do we so often choose a life slavery over the free life that we have in Christ?
God wants us to experience true freedom in this life. He wants for us to experience joy and freedom in Christ now. But very few who call themselves Christians are really living free. We are trapped by our own ideas of what a Christian should look lie. We are enslaved to what others think of us. We are bound by our culture. We are tangled in a web of rules we have created for ourselves.
"You were called to be free."
- Galatians 5:13a
I dare you to do it. Live free. Loose the chains of the law and live out of the overflow of your love for God and for others. I guarantee you that you will fail if you attempt to do this on your own. But connect yourself to Christ, walk with him in the details of the everyday, and you will succeed.
There is this old hymn that I love called "Make Me A Captive, Lord." It was written by George Matheson in 1890, but the words still speak to us today. I believe the first verse really captures what freedom in Christ ought to look like. Make these words into your prayer that you might live free now.
"Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand."
- Make Me a Captive, Lord by George Matheson
Friday, January 4, 2008
Making All Things New
There is something about the turn of a new year that excites us. There is this strange sense of anticipation and exhilaration as we begin again. We find that we have all sorts resolve to make this new year count. We vow to make this year better than the last, even if the previous year was a good one. The new year brings with it new...hope.
And so we make resolutions. Eat healthier. Exercise more. Spend more time in the Word. Remember birthdays. Save money. The list is endless. The great thing about the fresh start of a new year is that we find ourselves really believing we can make those changes. And we do...at least for the first few weeks. Then the smallest failure discourages us and causes us to give up completely.
I think this is a problem. Not because we fail to keep our resolutions. The problem is that we give up so easily. Of course we do...because we cannot do it. We do not have the strength to make needed changes in our lives. Changes that honor God, but are apart from him if we do not ask him for help.
"Behold, I am making all things new," our Lord says to us in Isaiah 43:19. God makes a way for us. Failure is not the end of the story. It never has been. Over and over again in the Bible, we see how God makes his mercy and grace new for us every morning (see Lamentations 3:22-24). And so we begin again. Each morning is a new year, a new chance to honor God with our lives. With each new day, let us resolve to rely on God more. Go ahead and make resolutions. Change is good if it honors and relies on God.
And so we make resolutions. Eat healthier. Exercise more. Spend more time in the Word. Remember birthdays. Save money. The list is endless. The great thing about the fresh start of a new year is that we find ourselves really believing we can make those changes. And we do...at least for the first few weeks. Then the smallest failure discourages us and causes us to give up completely.
I think this is a problem. Not because we fail to keep our resolutions. The problem is that we give up so easily. Of course we do...because we cannot do it. We do not have the strength to make needed changes in our lives. Changes that honor God, but are apart from him if we do not ask him for help.
"Behold, I am making all things new," our Lord says to us in Isaiah 43:19. God makes a way for us. Failure is not the end of the story. It never has been. Over and over again in the Bible, we see how God makes his mercy and grace new for us every morning (see Lamentations 3:22-24). And so we begin again. Each morning is a new year, a new chance to honor God with our lives. With each new day, let us resolve to rely on God more. Go ahead and make resolutions. Change is good if it honors and relies on God.
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