Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Hurting

I sprained my ankle last week.  Before you ask, no, I was not skiing.  Or running or climbing a mountain or hiking.  I sprained my ankle when I slipped on a carpet in a school hallway.  It hurt.  By the time I got home it had swollen up like there was a golf ball on the side of my ankle.  I put ice on it for a couple of hours, took some anti-inflammatory pills and headed to bed.  The next morning it was very swollen.  The golf ball had spread out and my ankle had disappeared entirely.  I could hardly walk, I was in pain, and my other leg was getting sore from limping and hopping up and down our stairs on one leg.  Thankfully my ankle is now returning to it’s normal size although I have some nice blue, green and black shades on my foot.

The Bible uses the analogy that the Body of Christ, Christians, are like a human body.  Every part is needed for something and often the parts we don’t think much of are the more important parts.  I get that.  We need each other.  What I didn’t think too much about was the degree to which other parts of the body suffer when one part is hurt.  Yes, I feel badly when a fellow Christian has a problem and is “hurting” but I have never really thought through the ramifications of the whole thing.  I sprained my ankle so I couldn’t use my left foot.  My right leg took much more strain and got tired.  It hurt under the strain of hopping around on one foot.  The Church is like that.  When one Christian is hurting, others help, take over for the one who is not able to serve.  That puts an additional load on those who are helping, those who take on the responsibilities of the one who is hurting.  Everyone who is filling in for the hurting brother or sister is under increased stress, under an increased load.  They too are hurting, and not just because they feel badly for their friend.  They are hurting because of the additional load they are carrying. 

So what?  Well it is a great reminder that we really do need each other and that in a very real way we all hurt when one of those in our fellowship is hurting.  But we joyfully help out because we are family, one family in Jesus, bonded together by His love.  I wouldn’t want to live any other way.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

A New Year

It’s a new year.  2011.  Some people think of it as turning a new page, a fresh clean page to begin writing something new with their life.  Others like to make resolutions about the things they absolutely are going to get done this year.  For some people it is a depressing weight, thinking of all that may or may not happen in the coming 365 days.  So many thoughts go through our minds as one year ends and another begins.  Remember the year 2000 and all the questions about what would happen?  Nothing happened, computers didn’t crash, the world didn’t end.  Remember, calendars are a man made thing, totally artificial numbers.  We picked the beginning date for the various calendars we use around the world, not God.  God has his own plans and he doesn’t really care about the particular number on our calendar year.

So what do I want for 2011?  I only have one really deep desire and that is to walk even closer with my Saviour Jesus.  I want to know him even more intimately.  I want to obey Him always.  I want to be totally His.  And I would like my family to follow Jesus in just the same way.  Okay, maybe that is two desires!

It is so easy to write those words, so much harder to carry through on them.  But that is my intent, my goal, my desire.  I want to be always and forever totally in Jesus’ hands.  And since He wants the same thing for me, I know I can count on His help every single hour of every day.  How about you?  What are your desires for 2011?  Do they include the Saviour?