WATCHWORD:
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10
People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:13-16
Meditation:
Trade-in?
In 2011, you bought a used car, a very cool, low mileage, 2009. You loved it then and you still have great affection for it, but things are happening and it’s beginning to cost…a lot. You ran into a deer, just a little fender-bender, and your insurance took a giant leap. New brake shoes, that was a pretty penny. You don’t mind regular servicing, but you weren’t prepared for when that little computer miss-functioned. That was a bite. Now you’re looking suspiciously at the tires and wondering if it’s time to get new ones, knowing what a big hit that will be.
Our common sense tells us that this vehicle, that we counted on so much, and often took for granted, is not designed to live forever. When we consider trading, in the back of our minds is the thought that we don’t want another mortgage and we wonder how we’re going to handle such a purchase?
That consumer of your wealth parked in your drive this very much like these bodies of ours. They wear out. In the course of our lives we’ve had a lot of maintenance done, called healthcare. I look at the one I carry around and I can tally it up. I’m a bionic man, in some respects. Both of my knees were made in Warsaw. As well as both of my hips. Three stents in my heart are the result of two heart episodes. I don’t know where these stents were made, but I got two of them in Belgium. I have some kind of fusion in my lower back. My arthritis is kicking up in various places. I’m not pain-free. Having said all that, the reality is, I’m not in bad shape, for the shape I’m in. But, if I was a car in my driveway, and in this shape, I’d trade it!
Let’s face it, that car in your driveway is replaceable. This earth suit we call our bodies are not designed for eternity, but our spiritual bodies are. When we hear about the goal of eternal life, we need to adjust our thinking. That’s not a destination in the future. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, eternal life is ours within our spirit, at that moment, that blink of our new birth.
We sometimes forget that we carry with us the Spirit of God, and, somehow, we don’t equate that spirit with our conviction of a Triune God. The Spirit entity is what dwells within us is a part of God. We need to strive to live as closely as we can to the spiritual life within us. That spiritual life is designed for eternity, but it does require maintenance. Its called constantly walking with Our Lord, hand-in-hand. May it be so with you.
Closing Prayer:
Thank You, Heavenly Father, that You have brought us along and nurtured us as we have grown our faith. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the amazing graces that you shower upon us that strengthens our walk with You. Thank You for the Saints that we have encountered, time and time again in our relationship with You, who we pray will continue to guide us along this way which has been set by Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. These prayers we offer and His name. Amen.
