17 Days until Easter

17 Days until Easter

Every 4th of July we would have a big party with family.  We’d go to the beach during the morning hours and then head back to our house for a cookout.  We’d bake Nannie’s Strawberry Jello Cake recipe and then the kids would decorate it as a flag using whipped cream, blueberries and strawberries.  Once the sun would set, out came the glow sticks.  I’d buy everyone their own pack.  They’d pull a stick out of the cardboard tube and break it.  A reaction would take place and a new substance inside the stick would glow.  They’d wear the glowsticks as bracelets and necklaces and anklets and glasses and even stick them in their hair. Every once in a while, the kids would pull out a dud.  They’d break the stick, but nothing would happen.  There was no evidence that a change had taken place.  There was no evidence of a new substance.  Inside the pack, they’d all look the same, but only the ones that would illuminate would contain the new substance that was formed from the chemical reaction.

Faith is a lot like that.  Real faith reflects evidence.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are made new.  And there is always evidence that reflects that newness in Christ. In a glowstick, the evidence of the new substance is in the color and illumination.  In a follower of Christ, the evidence of our faith is in our actions. 

When Josh and I were about to get married we went to a marriage conference on Love Languages, which are basically ways people feel and show love.  People can feel loved through words of affirmation, or through quality time, or from receiving gifts, or acts of service, or through physical touch.  Josh and I realized that we each needed something different to feel loved and it was good to know the best way to communicate that language of love for each other.  When I read the end of Matthew 25, I immediately thought to myself, “Jesus is telling me what His love language is!”.  How does God want me to express my love for Him?  Love the least.  Love the unlovable.  Love the broken.  Love the forgotten.  Feed the hungry.  Provide water for the thirsty.  Clothe the naked.  Comfort the sick.  Friend the lonely.  Accept the unaccepted.  To love my Lord is to love His people.  Not just those who you feel like loving.  No, He says to love the least of these.  The weak.  The vulnerable.  The misfits.  The rejected.  The hurt.  The lost.  The imprisoned.  The impoverished.  To love them, is to love Him.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.” -Matthew 25:40

When I read through Matthew 25, I noticed that He didn’t say that He felt loved when I studied Greek and Hebrew or when I was at church every time the doors were open or when I filled my vest with patches and badges at Awana’s.  While all of those are good, they are not the real evidence of my faith in Christ. 

“Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” - Matthew 25:34-36

Jesus goes on to explain that when we feed the hungry, we feed Him.  When we give drink to the thirsty, we give Him drink.  When we care for the needy, we care for Him.  When I really stop and think about this part of scripture, I get retrospective quickly.  When I walked past the man on the bench, knowing he was hungry, yet I didn’t stop to feed him, I walked past Christ.  When she cried because she was tired and I didn’t take the time to give her rest, I didn’t take the time with Christ.  In the end, the evidence of my love and faith in Christ will matter. 

The duds in the package get tossed.  Because really, at the end of the day, what are they good for?  The ones that react and form something new, shine brightly.   They give off light for all to see and bring joy to all.  For a glowstick, the evidence of a new substance is in the illumination from inside the stick.  For me, the evidence of a new creation in me through Christ, is my love for the least. How dare I ever deem anyone unworthy of my unconditional, utmost love and compassion and care! Gut check!

 

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