A Blessed Life

Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as 'Teacher' and 'Master,' and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.” – John 13:12-17 (The Message)

What does this say about Jesus? Have you washed anyone’s feet? What are other ways of serving others? Is Jesus concerned with the people around us? If so what does that say about how we are living?

I once heard a story about an astronomer who lived in an ancient time. He used to go out at night and observe the stars. One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he accidently fell into a deep well. He whined and cried about his sores and bruises while yelling out for help. A neighbor ran to the well, and upon learning what had happened said, “Hey fellow, why in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do not you manage to see what is on earth?”

Jesus never lost sight of what was on earth! What a shame it is that we so often do. Often time it is good to remember the way Jesus lived. When he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” perhaps he didn’t mean it in a way we could stare into the heavens and wait for a life after death. Maybe he actually meant that the way he walked, the truth he spoke, and they life he lived were for us too, here on earth where our feet walk. “What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious.” “If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it – and live a blessed life.” A blessed life, that sounds good.

With hope and joy,
Garrett

Pleasing God and Making Heaven

Do not forget to do good to others, and share with them, because such sacrifices please God. – Hebrews 13:16 (NCV)

Do you do good to others? If so what have you done? What do you share? How has good been done to you? Who have you witnessed sacrifice much? Why do you think all of this pleases God?

I have heard a story many times that goes like this:
A man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell. The Lord said to the man, "Come, I will show you hell."
They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each had a spoon attached to their hands that reached the pot, but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their arms that it could not be used to get the stew into their mouths. The suffering was terrible.
"Come, now I will show you heaven," the Lord said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first – the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons attached to their hands. But there everyone was happy and well nourished. "I don't understand," said the man. "Why are they happy here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?"
The Lord smiled, "Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."

If we all did good to others we would have heaven here on earth! In these times when we worry about what might come next, and how we might cope with the little we have sometimes we need the reminder, “Do not forget to do good to others…” Such sacrifice pleases God simply because then we become more like the truest human being there ever was, Jesus Christ. Life easily becomes hellish when we decide to hoard things we have leaving others in need because then suffering is everywhere. That first church in the book of Acts was a place where “there was no need among them.” Let us not only believe that such beauty can still be true today, but also act like it can as well by doing good, sharing, and sacrificing what we have in the name of love and Jesus. We might just discover that life is heavenly!

With hope and joy,
Garrett