Jesus

Love Makes Sense

This is a test. This is only a test. For the duration of one sentence I will attempt to write something legible while placing my fingers on random keys. Pty8w 8s 9ho6 q 53w5l, j fdldzg gbjx jx kn,h z fdxg. I repeat, this is only a test.

Now, if you can, please interpret the fourth sentence of the previous paragraph. Can’t do it? Of course not. My fingers weren’t on the home keys. I placed them wherever I wanted, and just typed.

When it comes to typing on a keyboard, you have to follow some guidelines if you want the outcome to make sense. It’s the same in love. Love was never meant to be confusing. In reality, it’s as simple as, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

As a teacher, I spend a lot of time developing my young students’ reading skills. The goal is for the children to learn certain words, but with the limited options given for a particular skill set, some stories in their little readers don’t make sense. One time, after reading one of those nonsensical stories, a five-year old student asked, “What was that supposed to mean?”

We can try to make our own guidelines for love, just as I placed my hands on the keyboard wherever I wanted. But the outcome will make about as much sense as the random words strewn together in a children’s reader or the completely illegible sentence in the first paragraph here. Only when my hands are placed on the home keys do the words come out in a logical way.

Jesus is our “home base” when it comes to love. He is the one who created the golden rule of do unto others, and he is the one who lived out the golden rule by living a life of perfect love and dying a death of sacrificial love. When I feel confused about life and love, I just have to look at the ultimate definition of love. And that makes sense.

Source: Love Makes Sense

A Worthy Endeavor

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Love is the only worthy endeavor.

What the Average Person Can Do

Blog_DandelionBreezeWe see the need, we feel compelled. We hear the statistics, we feel overwhelmed. What can one average person do?

That’s how I feel when I listen to news about human trafficking and other injustices in our world. Powerless. Voiceless. Insignificant.

There has to be enough professionals out there to answer the cry of our ailing world. Certainly there are people far more talented. And the rich have infinite resources.

Yet with all the professional, talented, rich people in the world, there is still no end to suffering. Either those with such great resources are not answering the call, or skill and wealth aren’t enough to solve our problems. Or both.

One day Jesus was preaching and people were hungry. Thousands of them. No one in the crowd felt they could meet the need. But a little boy contributed five loaves and two fish, and Jesus multiplied it to feed the multitudes.

I imagine that boy felt powerless, voiceless, and insignificant for much of his life. He thought he was just…average. And yet, his small sacrifice multiplied to make a miraculous difference.

We may not be able to solve all the world’s problems, but we all have something to give. We have talents, skills, and resources to contribute to the cause. We all have a voice, no matter how quiet, no matter how frail. The weak are made strong in the hands of a mighty God.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9)

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24)

Living to Serve

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But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

 

Photo Credit: Snow shovel | Shovel stuck in snow drift | Michaela | Flickr

Scarlet and Snow

blog_christmaslightssnow“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lordthough your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Photo Credit:File:Christmas lights strung on snow-covered fence.JPG – Wikimedia …

Unmelting Hope

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As much as I love the atmosphere of snow during this season, I’ve learned it’s not any more necessary than gifts or decorations. A snowless Christmas can’t take away the symbolism. It can’t erase the story of a baby born to die for our sins. So let it snow, or let it…not snow. I will be grateful for the hope that can thaw the coldest of hearts…a hope that will never melt away.

 

Photo Credit: Christmas Ornament | Free Stock Photo | A red Christmas ornament …

To Snow or not to Snow

Blog_ChristmasLanternA forecast of sixty degrees and sunny does not make for a happy Midwesterner come Christmastime. We grow up expecting snow as some sort of holiday birthright, our desire for it so great we’ve made it the theme of several songs—though we must admit it’s somewhat contradictory to string Let it Snow, White Christmas, and I’ll be Home for Christmas in the same playlist. Do we really want another Snowmageddon if we’re trying to hit the roads or catch a flight home? That white Christmas we’re dreaming of might mean we won’t be home for Christmas after all. Although this year, it looks like we’re getting more than what we asked for.

The first Christmas happened so long ago, we can’t say with any certainty whether there was snow or not. Snow is rare, though not impossible, in the region where Jesus was born. And some historians suggest his actual birthday was not a winter event.

Whether or not he was born in winter, I find it to be a fitting season for the symbolism of the holiday. The ground covered in a blanket of white is reminiscent of God’s promise, “though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow.” That’s why Jesus came. And a hero who would live to die for the salvation of the world deserves to be celebrated. I call December 25 Jesus’ birthday observed.

As much as I love the atmosphere of snow during this season, I’ve learned it’s not any more necessary than gifts or decorations. A snowless Christmas can’t take away the symbolism. It can’t erase the story of a baby born to die for our sins. So let it snow, or let it…not snow. I will be grateful for the hope that can thaw the coldest of hearts…a hope that will never melt away.