Fake?

 

Marleen bought me some new “run faster” sneakers.  They are Sketcher easy on shoes, meaning that they are fake lace-up and fake tongue.  If you look closely, there are loops on the fake tongue and a loop on the heel.   If I pull on both loops with opposite hands, the shoes slip right on. Slick!  Hey, there are fake Christians that are slick too.  They sound like a Christian and they look like a Christian, but they are only a fake. Slick!  II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Hey, are you a real Christian or a fake? Only you and God know.

In Uniform

 

In 1961, I was hiking in the woods behind my house (which I often did).  Over against a tree a few yards away, a tiny splash of color caught my eye.  I investigated and found an army jacket.  Not unusual for our area because we lived a few miles from the Edgewood Arsenal and the Aberdeen Proving Ground.  There was no one around and no name in the jacket, so I carried it home and it became mine.  I liked it because I felt like it was my army uniform - an exciting prospect for a twelve-year-old boy.  I wore it for three years until it was just too small for me.  A sad day, because I loved that jacket.  Hey, when I am called a “Christian” I am taking on the identity of Jesus Christ.  Actually, “Christian” means “little Christ”.  Luke writes about the followers of Jesus Christ in Acts 11:26, “… And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”  The followers of Jesus Christ were called by His name.  And still, to this day, the followers of Jesus Christ are called “Christians”.  Hey, I am glad to be called a Christian because I am proud to be identified with Christ.  But the question is, is Jesus Christ proud to be identified with me?  I am proud of Jesus, but is He proud of me?  Just like I wore my army jacket with pride, I want to wear the name “Christian” with pride.  Do you?  I trust so.

Today

 

I walked in the door all excited.  I announced to Marleen, “Well, I got everything on my list done!  Too bad it’s last Friday’s list.”  Isn’t that how it is?!  Wayne Peterson said, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present."  Hey, today is the only day that we are guaranteed!  James 4:14, "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."  So, take a moment to thank the good Lord for today, and make it a good day.

Supervision

 

Well, I did it again.  See July 27 post for a further explanation.  I was pulling pallets apart to scavenge the wood last Monday, and I caught my finger between the hammer and the pallet.  The current score: hard objects 2; soft finger 0.  I needed to get stitches in my finger, but I had just had stitches in the same finger 3 weeks ago.  I was too embarrassed to go back to the ER, so I cut a “butterfly patch” out of some surgical tape to hold the skin together.  Today, 8 days later, it is doing just fine .,, that is until I make the next blunder.  I told Marleen that it was her fault.  I told her months ago that I needed supervision.  And since I smashed my finger, evidently, she is not supervising me well enough. Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps."  I need spiritual supervision as well.  I’m glad that I don’t have to order my own steps in my life.  I’m glad that God sees into the future and knows the path that I should take.  Hey, let the dear Lord order your steps today.  Let God be your supervisor.