“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'” Matthew 16:24-25
THEY’RE BACK IN THE BOX! Yep… all the Christmas decorations have finally been removed, packed up and placed into storage. Even the Valentine’s Day tree has been taken down! But whether late or early, our Living Room is ‘back to normal!’ And to be honest, I have NO idea what that really means!
Katie is an artist at heart. I often feel sorry for her because her eye is NOT easily satisfied. Where someone might place a vase, she will move that thing to different locations, then after placing it, turn it over and over again to get JUST THE RIGHT ANGLE to satisfy her own subjective image of what looks good. I can NEVER figure out what that image is.
When Christmas comes around, it takes over a month to put all 28 boxes in place (yes, we added a few). My hands are the only thing needed to transfer the decorations from one place to another. I LOVE what she does and how she does it. It makes our house pretty and homey, but that’s pretty much it!
I looked up the definition of ‘Decorate’ and found this.. “to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential!” A FRIGHTENING definition for me when Katie reads this! But EYE opening when the concept hits home! If decorations are used to make something look more attractive by putting things on or around it, I naturally have to wonder, “What does JESUS think about that?”
Jesus is a spectacular artist! I look at nature, a sunset or a mountain vista and “WOW” is too small of a word. Then I read God’s spectacular Word and see that there are SOME things that God expects us to keep as they are intended to be. The Bible is clear… my life in Jesus Christ is NOT UP for decoration!
To become a Christian I had to be stripped bare of myself. To acknowledge that “I” am the problem and that ‘HE’ is the solution. Walking with Christ means that I must keep HIM as essential by putting all my false decorations away. Humility, self righteousness, pride and direction of movement are ALL fake coverings intended, deep down, to make myself look good. And Jesus hates every bit of it!
The instructions of this verse may not be pretty, but they are pretty clear! Give up your life, your ideas, your likes, wants and desires and… “FOLLOW ME”…WHEREVER! While I was debating that sentence in my mind, I lost track of Him! Please excuse me while I go catch up!
What essentially guides YOU?
