Lesson from a baby

The other night, I had an experience taking care of the baby that stuck in my mind.

She had a long day, and it was time to get ready for bed. She started to get a bit fussy, which was just further proof. So I started to get her ready for bed: changed her diaper, put her in warm pajamas, made a bottle. All the usual things.

She got fussier and fussier through the whole process, and I knew why. She was hungry. But I knew that, if she ate a nice big bottle, she'd be ready to go to sleep, so I wanted to make sure she got a clean diaper and comfy pajamas so as soon as she fell asleep, I wouldn't have to wake her. But she just wanted her meal.

And it occurred to me, how much we, as Christians, behave the same way. We're so focused on our immediate desire that we can't recognize the long term benefit gained by patiently waiting on God.

We scream and cry and carry on, oblivious to the plan God is weaving for us. And it's not that what we've fixated on is bad. Shiloh wanted nourishment. She needed it. We also put our immediate needs above God's plan.

And perhaps there are more metaphors we can dig out here. Just like my daughter getting her diaper changed, we have to have our sins stripped away; wiped clean by the sacrifice of Christ. And as I am learning, this process has to be repeated a LOT. We must confess our sins continuously to keep our hearts clean.

Furthermore, just as warm pajamas prepare a baby for a long night sleep, we must try to to prepare for the long night ahead of us. By studying the scriptures and learning all we can from life (meditating on the underlying truths of our daily lives), we allow God to speak to us and prepare us for our journey through the dark.

Of course, it's just part of our limitations as mortal beings. But maybe, just maybe, an awareness of our condition can help us to be more patient in waiting for God to bring it all together for our good. Maybe if we try to remember that the bottle is coming, we'll be more content to get our diaper changed and our pajamas on :-)

((There you go, spiritual lessons from poopy diapers, fuzzy pajamas, and warm bottles))

"Go out into the world..."

"And legislate the gospel."

Something about that seems off...

hmmm....

Oh, right! Silly me!

"Go out into the world and enforce the gospel."

No, that still doesn't look quite right.

Oh right, it's:

"Go out into the world and PREACH the gospel."

It seems that a lot of Christians have forgotten what our job is. It's not to make Christianity the law. It's not even to make sure our laws are the same or nearly the same as the Ten Commandments. Our job is to share the Good News of Christ's death and resurrection.

Legal homosexuality does not change that!

Legal drug use does not change that!

The gender/race/religion/party of our elected officials does not change that!

Our job is the same no matter what, and our job is to preach the gospel.

When we get so spun up about the state of our legal system, or the policies our government supports, or the number of Muslim immigrants into our country, we lose sight of what our actual job is. We get so focused on the things that mean nothing to our mission, that we give up ground on our actual mission.

I am called by God to share the message of His death, burial, and resurrection with all sinners. We are to be a light in the darkness, not a light in the lightness! We cannot truly shine for God unless we find ourselves surrounded by darkness. The fallen nature of the world should make us rejoice, because the Light of Christ will shine all the more brightly through us.

Just some thoughts...