Romans 12:11-13
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I’ve been in the kitchen all morning, cooking for our family Christmas celebration this evening. There will be twelve us around the table, so I have two beef roasts baking in crock pots, a salad chilling in the refrigerator, two pies cooling on the counter… and seasoned green beans (with bacon and a few other family secret ingredients) simmering in my Mam-ma Polly’s cast iron “Dutch oven” atop the stove. There are other side dishes and several traditions that will be honored with this meal… but the green beans dish is certainly one of them.
When I smelled something unpleasant this morning, I realized that the flame under the Dutch oven had gone out… and propane gas was seeping into the air around the stove. It was a putrid smell that I quickly dispersed by relighting the flame and turning on an exhaust fan. Thankfully, I was nearby and discovered this quickly... and I am watching carefully to make sure that I do not turn the dial too low for that burner in the future!
Our hope and faith in God is a lot like the burner on my gas range. If we are not careful, we can reduce the control button on our faith and focus to a point where the fuel of God’s great love, grace, mercy, forgiveness and blessings just leaks out and is squandered in our lives. And the results can really stink! More importantly, if left unchecked, this can create a potentially dangerous situation. We risk becoming cynical, hopeless, and ineffective as a Christian disciple.
God doesn’t want us to waste one drop of His love and care. He didn’t send Jesus to earth to live and die for us so that we could fritter away His gifts into thin air. God’s present of Jesus Christ is far too precious to leave unattended and un-nurtured. The last thing any of us should ever want is for our Discipleship to smell to the high heavens!
So today, on Jesus’ birthday, let’s redouble our efforts to keep the flame of His love burning in our hearts and minds. Amidst the food and the festivities, let’s remember how important it is to always be alert servants… cheerfully expectant. Let’s take time to pray… to help others… and to seek creative ways to be a light for Christ Jesus. May it always be said of us that we kept the faith…remained hopeful… and that our efforts to serve in Jesus’ name were like a pleasant aroma. God bless and keep you this day… and always. And have a very Merry Christmas!
©2013 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment