First Choice

She wanted to be with me more than running ahead with her sisters to play on the monkey bars that dotted the park’s walking path.

 As we walked, we talked about everything from spelling tests to boys that chase her at recess. She intermittently held my hand and looked up at me with the kind of hero-admiration that only an 8-year-old can give.  

 I cherished the moment.

 Once or twice in our hour together she bolted off to roll like a log down the hill, or swing from the weeping willow trees.  But mostly she just wanted to be my side, holding my hand, and giggling about this or that.

 Her sisters on the other hand, gave me a few token moments of attention but were much more interested in running and playing and swinging and climbing.

 You might say it was their age that determined their interests. But I am not convinced. Mikayla – the one that stuck by me – is 8, her younger sister Mikensay is 5, and her older sister Michelle is 10.

 No, I don’t think it was their age at all.

 I think that Mikayla just wanted to be with me. She wanted my attention more than she wanted anything else.

 And her wanting my attention more than other, exciting options made me feel very special – and very loved.

 It is a memory that is lodged not only in my mind, but in my heart.

 The day Mikayla made me first choice.  

 I wonder if Jesus feels that way when we make Him first choice? When we choose Him above all of the other options in our lives?

 Think about it.

 When was the last time that praying, or reading your Bible was the most important thing you were going to do that day?

 How long has it been since you couldn’t wait to bask in His presence?

 Or linger in the afterglow of prayer?

 Or wanted time with Jesus more than anyone else?

 Consider the story of Mary and Martha as recorded in Luke 10 from the Holy Bible:

^“38Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

⁴⁰But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

⁴¹And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

⁴²But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”(Luke 10:38-42)

Certainly there are times when household chores and other obligations need to be done. But Jesus was saying that it was very good that Mary chose Jesus first and foremost... as should we.

As for Mikayla, later that week she spent the night and we’d planned to spend the next day together – just a granddaughter and grandparent day. But her mom called and reminded her that she had been asking for weeks to go to a particular egg hunt in the park. ‘Did she still want to go?’ her mom asked.

“Let me think about it,” Mikayla said.

A full 10 minutes later Mikayla decided to go to the egg hunt and forgo our day together.

10 minutes in an eight-year-old mind is a very long time. I felt just as special and deeply loved as I did that day in the park that she even paused to think about it. I mean what is a grandmother compared to all out park district egg hunt?

I love Mikayla for loving me the way she does. And I want to love Jesus the with the same admiration and top of my priority list that she’s given me recently.

How about you?

Unlikely Pride

"First pride, then the crash—
the bigger the ego, the harder the fall." -Proverbs 16:18 (The Message)

Pride and self-importance can be easy traps to fall into.

A sense of entitlement regarding our lives can cause us to think we have a right to be honored, regarded, given our just due. 

 

If we are not careful we can fool ourselves into thinking we have a right to:

·  Be honored more than an unproductive co-worker.

·  Receive better pay or position.

·  Enjoy good health - or happiness.

·  Have dignity and respect bestowed on us.

·  Live a stress free life.

·  Have financial success.

·  Own a new car or home.

·  Take a vacation when we want.

·  Be used in a position of prominence in the church.

·  Be validated for our accomplishments.

·  See those who have offended us punished.

·  Receive appreciation from our spouse and children.

Normally we continue with our puffing and blowing about our so called rights UNTIL a crisis hits:

·  A loved one dies.

·  We lose our job.

·  We lose our house.

·  We can't pay our bills.

·  We receive a terminal diagnosis.

·  Divorce looms.

·  We're betrayed by a friend.

·  Past failures crash into our present day.

•  Disability visits our world.

And with crisis comes clarity.  

·       Clarity concerning the frailty of our human condition.

·       Clarity to acknowledge the omnipotence of God.

·       Clarity regarding our utter helplessness without Him.

James 4:14 offers significant clarity:

^"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

I love the story of Job in the Bible. Whenever I get to feeling too pompous or filled up with my rights to this or that, I read the last 3 chapters of the book of Job in the Holy Bible.

The Bible says that Job was a righteous man and one that pleased God. (Job 1:1)

There doesn't seem to be any notable pride in Job's life, yet God impressed strongly on Job His omnipotence. Consider the following passage:

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,...

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? " (Job 38:1-5)

For three chapters (Job 38-40) the Lord basically landblasts Job and explains in no uncertain terms that He is the sovereign Lord and can do whatever He pleases to whomever He wants because He always has been and always will be. (The seeming undercurrent is - 'how dare you question what's happening in your life.')

In short, according to God, Job had no rights - no claim to what was happening in his life.

 And we don’t either.

 According to the Holy Bible, all that we have - and all that we ever hope to be, was given to us because of the mercy and shed blood of Christ Jesus.

 If we were to stand before God based on our own reputation we would be doomed; condemned to eternal punishment and death. (Matthew 8:11-13)

But Christ Jesus gave us a chance to be spared if we embrace Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Hebrews 9:21-26 explains it:

"Even the first plan required a death to set it in motion. After Moses had read out all the terms of the plan of the law—God's "will"—he took the blood of sacrificed animals and, in a solemn ritual, sprinkled the document and the people who were its beneficiaries.

And then he attested its validity with the words, "This is the blood of the covenant commanded by God." He did the same thing with the place of worship and its furniture.

 Moses said to the people, "This is the blood of the covenant God has established with you.

 Practically everything in a will hinges on a death. That's why blood, the evidence of death, is used so much in our tradition, especially regarding forgiveness of sins.

 That accounts for the prominence of blood and death in all these secondary practices that point to the realities of heaven.

 It also accounts for why, when the real thing takes place, these animal sacrifices aren't needed anymore, having served their purpose.

For Christ didn't enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins.

He doesn't do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history.

 But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin." (From The Message)

But of course, God is full of mercy and compassion and bestows abundant blessings on those who love and obey Him. And we enjoy many of benefits that we can think we are entitled to –not because we have a right, but because Jesus loves us, gave His life for us, and only asks that we acknowledge that He is Lord and all that we have comes from Him.

In the end God gave Job much more than Job had at the beginning:

"So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.   

And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days." (Job 42:12-17)

***

What about you? Do you struggle with feeling mistreated or taken advantage of? Could it be that you are defending your rights when God wants you to relinquish them to His loving care?

Let’s talk about it.

Leave a post or email me at debbie@dsimlergoff.com

I’d love to hear from you!