“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3
Will is a GIANT of a man who, the more time I spent with him, just kept getting bigger in my eyes. As a Senior Citizen, Will stands about 5’3” tall and moves kinda slow. But it wasn’t his SIZE that made him a legend in my mind. It is what he was DOING that made him spectacular. Will is a beekeeper.
I told folks about how honey bees had moved into our birdhouse. We could see them outside our window and watched the bees come and go… and the hive thrive and grow! Something had to be done, so I spread the word in hopes that SOMEONE knew a beekeeper who would want them. When I got home one evening, there was Will, dressed only in jeans and a T-shirt, standing on a ladder taping screen over the holes! Bees flew around and landed on him… but Will just kept plugging the holes! I was mesmerized by his lack of fear! His fearlessness led me to walk closer to him… and the hive!
Normal reaction to a bee invading one’s personal space is immediate and radical. Fleeing while swatting is typical as fear increases in direct proportion to vicinity! Walking TOWARD a HIVE of bees is either a sign of a crazy person, or someone a whole lot smarter than me! If this fearlessness could be learned, I wanted it!
Before long I was right in there with Will, helping him and doing what he told me. As the bees flew around me, I nervously asked ‘the question,’ “aren’t you afraid of being stung?” His reply was interesting! “Oh I LIKE getting stung… it helps my arthritis!” Shocked, I was in too deep to get out now!
Will’s superpower came from knowledge and personal experience. At one point he took a spray bottle of sugar water and sprayed the bees, saying that, “it calms them down and sends them into the hive to clean each other off!” Which is EXACTLY what happened! Will didn’t know it, but he had just provided me a metaphor of Jesus Christ and His Church!
Most Christians really don’t know the power and blessing that they share with the object of their faith. Jesus Christ, who wants us to have His SWEET Life, has given us EVERYTHING WE NEED, to actually live it! Sweetness and abundance comes through learning and ‘knowing’ Him personally. The more we spend time in knowing and experiencing Him, the sweeter OUR life becomes!
Abundant Life is the New Testament promise to beelievers. In the Old Testament, Israel was promised a land flowing with milk and honey. Through the sting of the death on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for MY sin and offered me His sweetness… in ABUNDANCE. The Holy Spirit acts like sugar water, drawing beelievers together. Which, to the world, brings fear!
People who do not know Jesus are strangely AFRAID of Him. Christ calls us to come OUT of the world to bee part of HIS. Sadly, the world often only sees a threat. But the Bible tells us that the more we know Jesus, the sweeter we can bee. And beeing sweet just might draw someone else in a little closer!
When it comes to Jesus… how close to YOU want to bee?
