“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

I met Marna at the Lumber store. I needed ½ a sheet of drywall, and she was standing right beside it. She looked like someone in charge so I asked her how I went about it. She radioed a guy! Funny! Telling him what I needed, I left for more stuff. On my return, a different guy was getting my drywall. “Why,” I asked. “Oh.. he left. He doesn’t like to cut drywall!”

I had gone to get some insulation and found that things are NOT what they used to be. I remember the pink rolls. It doesn’t come like that anymore! UGH! I made the statement to Marna, “things are just different now.” When I noticed and asked, “why do I have 2 halves? I only want ONE half!” She said… “no halves!” Drywall doesn’t come like that anymore either.

My T-shirt said it all. “Normal isn’t coming back, Jesus is!” It was the perfect lead in. “Well Marna… do YOU know Jesus?” “I’m not religious,” she replied. “That’s not what I asked you,” I said. She didn’t respond in the affirmative, so I gave her the quick rundown on “here’s what you KNOW! You’re a sinner, right?” “Yup!” “Then you’re toast and you KNOW IT!”

EVERYONE KNOWS they are sinners. And EVERYONE KNOWS, unless they are lying to themselves, that there is a God and He IS PERFECT! How can the 2 possibly get together? From there I simply told the Gospel. I had a card and handed it to her. She took it as I told her, “Read the book of John!” You’d have thought I had asked for her arm! “Yer TOAST! If ya don’t!”

Walking away I told her, “I’m praying for you!” But the decision was HERS! Intimate, private, personal, respected by me… and God. I did my job! Jesus said, “GO!” I went! That is all He asked of me. Who’s supposed to go? The Word is clear… “GO!” WHO? ME! YOU? YUP! ANY and EVERYBODY that has been touched by the Master AFTER they said yes! Is that YOU?

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

It was Holy Week. For Maundy Thursday, most everything had to be removed to decorate, then be put back the next day. Easter held the promise of the famous ‘Sticky Buns,’ which had to be made first. Every step of the way, there were people in the Church who were there helping to get ready. It was a lot of work that we didn’t HAVE to do… or did we? Now Easter’s over, maybe it’s time to think!

Admittedly, there were times I got tired and a little down. Just a few years ago our church would throw a big breakfast along with the Stick Buns. We cut back on the BIG breakfast when we realized that help was getting harder to find. I realized asking people to do things, only to have them feel bad, or say no, made me disappointed that they didn’t come through. Does Jesus have that same issue?

Being drawn to read Ephesians, I see that Paul had to deal with this same kind of thing in almost every Church he founded. He starts the book off with the most powerful chapter in the Bible… Ephesians 1… by telling me who I AM in Christ. I counted at least 50 benefits! He then goes on to tell what the Godhead is trying to DO with all of us. Then by Chapter 3, he gets into the ‘DO’ verses!

Paul starts Chapter 3 with a couple of hinting ‘do’ things. ‘SURELY’ you’ve Heard! Did I? ‘READ THIS’ to understand! Do I? By firmly placing me in His will, He wants me to understand CLEARLY what He plans for ‘The Church’ and ME. By the middle of Chapter 4 he starts giving me some of the changes God wants to see ME DOING… ‘Speak the truth in love.’ ‘Grow up.’ ‘Put off your OLD self.’ ‘Stop anger!’

As the book continues, so does the intensity of God’s demands. Be Kind! Forgive! Watch your mouth! Care! Stop lusting.’ DON’T GET DRUNK!’ Then, he gets REALLY personal when he calls me out in my job as a husband to ‘LOVE YOUR WIFE!’ And to my wife, ‘HONOR YOUR HUSBAND!’ It goes uphill from there! DO Words. Expectations. Demands. NO exceptions. All with reason to say, ‘NO!’

In the intro I stated that Easter’s over. That was kind of a joke that came from a relief that I’m not now required to put in more extra hours than normal. But is that a true statement? Since I know that Easter was just a beginning for a NEW Life in Christ, what does that Master of ‘my’ Universe actually EXPECT me to Do and BECOME? I believe I just told you what He told ME. And now… you know!