The Real You

 

Who is the real you?  Are you what you think about yourself?  Not really.  Are you who others think about you?  No again, but you’re getting close.  The real you is what you think that others think about you.  We are constantly living to please others - or at least trying to please others.  When I was in the fourth grade, I thought that I had skinny arms.  And all I had to wear were short-sleeved shirts.  So I wore this hideous multi-colored sweater every day to school over my short-sleeved shirts to cover my (perceived) skinny arms.  I thought others thought that my arms were skinny.  But EVERY fourth-grade boy has skinny arms!  That ugly sweater looked much worse than my (perceived) skinny arms.  No one ever mentioned my skinny arms to me, but that’s what I thought that they thought.  Hey, God made me exactly how He wanted me to be - skinny arms and all.  And God made you exactly the way that He wanted you to be.  He made you for a special purpose, and that is to glorify God.  God gets glory in using ordinary people.  Paul said it best in I Corinthians 1:26-29, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”  When a great person speaks eloquently, people are in awe, but when an ordinary person speaks eloquently about the good Lord above, people are amazed, and God gets the glory!  So, God is looking for ordinary people who will speak to others of Him.  God might even be looking for people with skinny arms.  Who knows who God can use?  May be even you!

Ought

 

Ought is an interesting word.  It is a helping verb indicating not the way that things are, but rather the way that things should be.  Usually, ought carries responsibility that the subject (the speaker) should be doing.  Some activity or action that should be happening.  Ought indicates a lack or incompleteness of an action that should be going on.  In Scripture, ought is used 97 times, but my two favorite verses are Luke 18:1, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”  And then, at the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples saying in John 13:14, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.”  What two great examples!  Jesus said that we should pray, and Jesus said that we should be loving servants to others.  Two great admonitions!  Hey, be kind to someone today and pray for one another.  God will be pleased.

Pet Peeves

 

I have several pet peeves.  You know, the things that just get under your skin.  One of them is cold butter.  No matter how hard you try, you can’t spread cold butter on bread.  It just rolls up behind the knife and tears the bread all apart.  So, I have a butter dish and cover to keep butter at room temperature and spreadable.  Another pet peeve is folding clothes, only to find one sock is left.  Now I have two feet and take off two socks, and two socks go into the hamper, and all of the clothes go into the washer and all of the washed clothes go into the dryer.  But when I get the clothes out of the dryer, where did that missing sock go to?!  Frustrating!  That’s probably how Adam felt as he named all of the animals in Genesis 2.  God brought all of the animals to Adam, two by two, male and female, and in verse 20, “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.”  Like my unpaired sock, Adam was alone.  So, God provided a helpmeet for Adam in the person of Eve.  And Adam and Eve were united in marriage by God Himself.  Hey, the dear Lord gave me a wonderful helpmeet.  We laughed and we cried and we enjoyed each other’s company.  We had a great run, but now, Kathy is gone.  And God will help me to make it to the finish line alone, or He may send me another wonderful helpmeet to me.  Hey, if you are young and single, be careful in looking for a mate.  Be very careful, for you will be blessed for a very long time … or you will be sorry for a very long time.  But don’t be afraid to take a mate, for it will be the greatest joy that you ever had  It was for me, and it can be for you.