Sanitation Specialist. Astronaut. Arborist.
"When I grow up I could be a Trash Collector! Or I could go to Space! Or be a Tree-Planter!"Her face was alive. Her heart captivated. The dreams of her future were all so exciting. Every option equally beautiful.My grown-up judgemental sensibilities laughed. Those are three very different options. Each with different stigmas. And paychecks. And lives.
O my sweet child. How grandly simple your world is. How cute you are.
Yet her excitement and joy call to me. Cutting through my cynicism. Wooing my heart to pursue her simple purity.Her eagerness to have a function is, honestly, delightful. Refreshing. Inspiring.I'm thinking about the vision Yahweh gave us for the Body of Christ: All parts needed. Each essential. Each beautiful. (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4)But how, instead, many parts are absent. And some parts feel like a burden we have to endure. And some parts seem ugly and not like Jesus at all.Ugh. When did we allow ourselves to get so sick? So misshapen? So unteachable? So individualistic? So jaded? So offended? So self-righteous? So dysfunctional?O, why aren't we a heart-captivated people? Why aren't we waking up each day exploding with excitement to function in the roles the Spirit gives us?Where did our joy go? Our simple purity? Our passion to serve His Kingdom?Once again, my four-year-old daughter is my mentor. Today I'm asking the Holy Spirit to strip away the things that daily taint my heart, and to re-inject my heart with that beautiful simple passion to do anything, everything, whatever He wants. Selah.
Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. Be glad for all God is planning for you. (Romans 12:11-12a NLT)Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11 Amp)Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. (Romans 12:4-6a NLT)