Monthly Archives: July 2024

Transplanted

plant
My transplanted plant next to its cracked (and much smaller) original pot.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
2 Thessalonians 1:3

A plant I have at my office window was growing out of its original pot so much that the pot itself was cracking. So I made the move to transplant the plant into a larger pot with new potting soil. The experience ended well with the plant successfully transferred to its new bigger location for it to thrive and expand. But getting there was a little messy. I had to cut the plastic housing inside the original pot to release the roots from their confinement. Then when I put the new potting soil in the larger pot, a lot of the dirt ended up on my office floor carpeting, and the gardening gloves I bought specifically for this task immediately developed a hole in one of the fingers. Fortunately, I did find a broom and a dustpan to brush away the excess dirt, and the gloves did keep the dirt off my hands, even with the hole.

Now as I look at the newly transplanted plant, I am amazed that such a large plant had once lived in such a small space when it clearly needed more room to flourish and become the plant it was meant to be. There are many Christian metaphors that come to mind as I contemplate this experience. First, we as Christian plantings of the Lord are not meant to remain static, but to grow and develop in our faith. But that spiritual growth and that transplanting to a new mission for God can be painful and difficult before it gets good. There are literally growing pains that happen as we adjust to new challenges, new people, new tasks that are not initially easy for us. We might feel a little broken when we abandon where we have been, and we may have some weak spots that nag us along the way. But in the end the growth is good for us and expands our relationship with God and with one another in a way that deepens our roots into even richer soil of spiritual development. In the end, we need never be afraid to be transplanted by our God to a new town, a new job, a new relationship, a new role in our congregation. He will make sure that we become more and more the people he wants us to be.

Your All in All

all your love

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

We have all heard the phrase “give it your all,” right? Well, that sentiment is never more clear than in the words of Jesus in Mark 12:30. Jesus does not tell us to just love God. He tells us to love him with our all.

all our heart: We are to love deeply, sincerely, compassionately.

all our soul: We are to love from our spiritual core, from the center of our faith, through the will of the Holy Spirit.

all our mind: We are to love with understanding and a clear conscience without any ill intent.

all our strength: We are to love with the power God has given us and the confidence we have in Jesus.

Think of these components every time you hear the word love in any context, and consider ways in which you can incorporate all of them in your expressions of love to God, especially in worship, prayer, Bible study and devotions. He truly is your all in all.

A Lazy Boy?

recliner

I have a recliner in my living room, and it is the first chair I head to at the end of a hard day of work. I pull the lever to lift up the foot rest and lean back toward the wall, breathing out a heavy sigh.

I find it funny that the company that made my recliner is called La-Z-Boy. Am I a “lazy boy” for using a chair like this? I really don’t think so. I am using the chair as a reward for my hard work. It might be better for me to call a chair like mine a Relaxing Boy or a Comforting Boy.

I am not in the habit of using my chair to avoid work, but to rest from my labor. It is a good thing to rest now and then, of course. God built in a day of rest after creating the whole world after all, and he included a commandment about resting on the Sabbath. Rest is important but should not be done to excess. We as God’s people were not created to just lay around in comfy chairs all day long. We were specially designed to move.

“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news,” Jesus told his disciples (Mark 16:15). “Run with perseverance the race that is set before us,” St. Paul tells us (Hebrews 12:1). “Walk in love, as Christ loved us” Paul advises the Ephesians (Ephesians 5:2). But after going with good news, running with perseverance and walking in love, there is a time for rest. Rest in the comfort that only God can bring through prayer and through peace that passes all understanding. No recliner can ever match reclining in God’s arms.

Self Checkout

self checkout

From grocery stores to department stores to fast food restaurants, almost every place has a self serve line. I have begrudgingly been using them more and more and have been forced to when there is no other option. I have noticed that I have gotten better at self checkout the more I do it. But I have also noticed that it has led to me not saying a single word to anyone around me.

Humans were made to be social beings. God said it was not good for man to be alone, before he created Eve, and research has shown that having a social group you meet with regularly decreases greatly the chances of depression and loneliness.

As Christian human beings, the social aspect is even more important. Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Jesus also sent his disciples out in pairs of two. He wants us to be with each other when we talk about him and think about it.

And most of all, we are designed as Christians to serve one another, even above serving ourselves. The Bible does not record that Jesus washed his own feet on Holy Thursday, but it does say that he washed the feet of all the disciples gathered in that Upper Room. The Bible doesn’t say if Jesus ate any of the food in the feeding of the 5000, but it does record that Jesus first served the people the bread and fish after blessing it.

With these biblical models in mind then, consider in a broader sense how you can be less of a self server and more a servant for others. In many ways, self checkout lanes are a representation of what not to do as a Christian. Don’t just serve yourself or self indulge. Don’t just go through life all alone. Don’t avoid people all together. Instead, serve others before yourself, walk through life with someone you can talk to, and seek out those you see who are in need of companionship and ask them what you can do together.

Use these verses as your guide for selfless serving:

Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. —1 Peter 4:10-11

When the Wheels Come Off…

bike

But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. Luke 15:33

I recently had the back wheel of my bike come off while I was pedaling up a steep hill. My chain fell off the gears and the axle broke. I limped off the road, not sure what to do. Then members of my bike team came by one by one to stop and help me out and calm me down.

After many attempts by my fellow bikers to get my bike back together, it turned out that the bike was completely unrideable and unfixable, so one member generously said she would come back and pick me up and put my bike in the back of her car, which she did. She even assisted me in putting the various pieces of my bike into the back of my car.

We all ended the day with a delicious meal at a nearby restaurant, where I could thank everyone personally for their kindness.

The experience was a reminder to me of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In my case, though, there were many Good Samaritans and no one passed by on the other side. It’s a good sign to me that there are still many people in the world today with servant hearts who will drop everything to help a friend in need when “the wheels fall off” in life literally and figuratively. Our role as Christians continues to be to serve as neighbor anyone we see who needs help. Never be the one, even now, who passes by on the other side when you see someone in dire straits. Christ will give you courage to go over to them and do what you can.

Our Home Sweet Home

flag

Today we celebrate America, the country we call home. It is a true blessing from God that we have a land where we can dwell, a place where we are free, and a location where we can worship him.

Today is a day to honor those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and built a framework for the benefit of future generations. What was declared on July 4, 1776, still is declared in our lives today, and that declaration of independence is something we should treasure as citizens of this great nation.

But for us a Christians, we are reminded that there is another country to consider:

But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. —Hebrews 11:16

Heaven is our true and even sweeter home that awaits us, and we eagerly desire the coming of this greater gift, even as we live as citizens here.