Category: Living for Eternity

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Story: A Mixed-Up Servant

silverware

Ted had a bit of an attitude. He resented every time anyone asked him to do something for them. Why didn’t anyone do something for him? Why did others get to relax and play archery while he had to polish silver?

He hadn’t always had an attitude. There’d been a day when he’d been super excited to serve the King in his palace. What had happened to his joy?

“Hey, Ted, how’s it going?” Ted’s friend Zach asked. Ted unloaded his frustration into his friend’s listening ear. “I just want to relax and have fun, and I can’t,” Ted finished.

To Ted’s surprise, Zach actually laughed.

“Do you mind telling me what’s so funny?” Ted asked.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but Ted, you’re a servant. Why are you acting as if everyone and everything else should be serving you?”

Zach’s words hit home. He had been living like everything should serve him, instead of relishing in the joy of serving the Great King. Had he forgotten that even the Great King had lived as a servant, putting everyone else’s needs before his own and serving them?

“You’re right,” Ted admitted. “I want to change. It’s hard, though. I mean, don’t I need a little rest?”

Zach put his hand on his friends’ shoulders. “Ted, you can trust the King to make sure you get what you really need. Just focus on serving Him again and remembering what a privilege it is to be in his household. Don’t forget he’s coming back from his trip soon, and you want to hear him say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ That’s so much more important than getting your archery practice in today.”

Ted knew his friend was right. It was amazing, though, how easily he could let fleeting desires keep him from what really mattered.

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:23 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, Romans 1:1 (ESV)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV)

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Short Story: Hidden Opportunities

Dishes

What a mess, Julia thought as she walked into the kitchen and saw all the dishes. Then she remembered the special computerized glasses her dad had given her and told her to wear.

“They’ll help you see life differently,” he’d told her.

She pulled them out of her pocket and put them on. The words “opportunity to serve” flashed across the screen. Were these dishes really an opportunity for her to serve her family?

Julia blinked back the tears. Her friend’s words stung. Julia felt anger at the injustice rising in her heart. She pulled out her glasses. “Opportunity to love” flashed across the screen. Could her friend’s insensitivity and lies actually be an opportunity for her to grow in love?

For the third time that day, Julia rolled the bandage around her ankle. This sprained ankle had totally ruined all of her plans. She had a tennis practice and a game Saturday—or at least she did before this. The game meant so much to her, but now she wouldn’t be able to go.

Julia moped around the house for a day before she remembered her glasses. When she put them on and looked at her ankle, the words “opportunity to trust” flashed across the screen. Could even this ankle be an opportunity rather than an obstacle?

Little by little, Julia’s glasses changed how she saw the world and how she lived. She discovered that the very things she often complained about were really opportunities in disguise.

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV)

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Short Story: Two Wardrobes

wardrobe

Stacy’s wardrobe–or perhaps I should say wardrobes–were rather unique. In one closet, she had what could best be described as rags. The clothing was tattered and worn…and filthy. Insects even nested in some of the sleeves. This wardrobe was an old one Stacy had back when she lived on the streets–back before the King had adopted her.

In contrast, the other closet hosted a wealth of beautiful, brand-new (and sparkling clean) clothes. The wardrobe was truly fit for a princess–and there was something to wear for every occasion. From elegant dresses trimmed tastefully to comfortable lounge wear, the closet had the very best a girl could long for–all a gift from the King to his beloved daughter.

With such choices, you might suppose that Stacy always wore something from the clean, nice closet. After all, who would want to wear (let alone be seen in) tattered, filthy clothes instead of the best wardrobe imaginable?

And yet, Stacy often found herself sporting her old tattered clothes.

“Stacy, you need to change clothes,” her older sister Anna admonished her. “That’s no way for a princess to dress.”

Stacy looked down with a gasp. She didn’t even realize she was wearing her old clothes! Mortified, she raced to her room and hid her head under a pillow. Anna followed and tenderly removed the pillow.

“It’s okay, Stacy. Don’t waste the rest of the day crying over it. The King’s love for you is unconditional. You don’t have to live in shame. Just go put away your old garment and put on one of your new pieces of clothing now and come on down to dinner, won’t you? You don’t want to miss out on what the King has prepared.”

Anna’s words calmed Stacy. She went and put on one of her new dresses.

I wish I could report that she never wore one of her old rags again, but that wouldn’t be true. She struggled to put away her old garments and start wearing her new ones. It felt as if the old garments had a strange way of getting back on her despite her resolves to never wear them again. She found she had to remind herself every day to put away the old and put on the new.

Slowly but surely, she began to look more like the princess she was, wearing her new garments more and her old ones less and less.

“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth…. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:8, 12-14 (ESV)

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Short Story: Don’t Ignore the Flies

The fly seemed harmless enough at first. One had slipped into the house when the door was open. Simon thought about swatting it with the fly swatter, but he was busy and the fly wasn’t all that distracting. What harm could there be in letting it fly around?

The next week when Simon went to take the garbage out, dozens of tiny white maggots came oozing out of the trashcan. Simon frantically began squashing and stomping as he raced the trash outside. Yikes! He cleaned out the trash can, hoping he’d now dealt with the problem.

But the fly lived on. What harm could it cause? Simon didn’t realize yet that it was the fly that had laid eggs–eggs that had hatched into these small, flesh-eating insects.

Soon the fly was not alone. Some of the maggots had escaped Simon’s stomping and matured into flies themselves. The buzzing became more annoying. But still, Simon just did his best to ignore the flies.

And then the next week, there were more maggots. At last, Simon realized what was happening.

Eradicating those maggots wasn’t easy. It started with doing what Simon should have done from the beginning: killing the flies. Then Simon gave his whole house a deep spring cleaning. For days, he vigilantly kept a look out for the small white insects, as they kept hiding and reappearing. Some escaped his cleaning and matured into flies, which Simon had to diligently hunt down.

But hopefully Simon had learned his lesson: while he couldn’t keep flies from entering his house now and then, he needed to diligently seek to hunt them down when they did! Ignoring the flies was dangerous. What seems harmless enough can lead to a serious infestation.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV)

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Our thoughts may seem insignificant and harmless, but they matter! Thoughts of fear, lust, envy, anger, and bitterness, if not taken captive to obey Christ, can lead to serious sin infestations in our lives.

What are you thinking about today? When the flies (i.e., bad thoughts) come, are you taking them captive and reorienting your thinking to what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise? Or are the bad thoughts allowed to stay around?

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Short Story: Playing the Wrong Game

treasure, invest

Sam had mastered this new game—or so he thought. Every turn, he had a choice as to what he would buy. And most turns, Sam diligently collected more resources. His collection was vast and diversified. He had resources of every value, shape, and variety. Surely he was doing well!

And Sam didn’t slack up in his efforts as the game progressed. He kept trying harder and harder as the game progressed. He wanted to finish well.

The problem is, Sam hadn’t read the instruction manual. Well, I should say he hadn’t really paid attention to all of the instruction manual. He’d read sections (where he saw that resources were important) but he hadn’t really processed the part where it talked about the purpose of those resources. You see, the main objective of the game wasn’t about having a large collection of resources. Those resources were to be used for a purpose—to buy investments that did count in the end.

When the game ended, Sam was met with a shock: all he had accumulated didn’t count for anything. In the end, they were all simply taken away. Only the investments they’d been used to purchase lasted…and Sam hadn’t made very many investments at all. All those turns that he spent accumulating more resources he could have made investments that mattered…but he hadn’t. He had wasted turn after turn after turn. And now it was too late. Oh, how he wished he’d not been playing the wrong game.

***********

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)

Thought to ponder: Am I investing in eternal treasure or am I caught up in things that don’t last? Am I digging into God’s Word to understand what really matters or just following my own strategy and thoughts as to what each day should be like? Am I living life my way or His?

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Short Story: Uprooting Weeds (and Overcoming Sin)

Laura pulled her sleeves back and set to work, determined that these weeds would get out of here. She wanted a well-kept garden desperately, but right now, it looked more like a garden of dandelions and crab grass. No more! This garden was going to get in shape.

Hours later, Laura dragged herself back into the house, satisfied with a job well done. The area where dandelions used to reign was now mainly just overturned soil—weed free at last.

How did this happen? Laura could hardly believe her eyes. She’d been busy inside and hadn’t checked on the garden in a few weeks, and it was completely overgrown yet again!

Once again, Laura set to work. And once again she yanked everything out of the ground. When she finished, there was not a plant standing when she finished.

But once again, the weeds just grew back, even bigger and stronger than ever it seemed. Laura was getting discouraged. What was she doing wrong?

She mentioned her dilemma to her neighbor one day, an older, wiser gardener named Phoebe. “I just don’t know what to do! Why do these weeds keep coming back?”

“My dear girl,” Phoebe replied. “Have you been planting good plants in their place?”

The question might sound like a rhetorical one, but it wasn’t. Laura hadn’t been planting anything in the garden at all—she’d just been trying to remove the weeds and hoping good plants would grow on their own…or at least that it’d stay weed-free.

Seeing the look on Laura’s face, Phoebe continued to explain, “You have to plant good plants in the garden so there’s no room for the weeds to grow. And you’ll want to nurture those plants and watch for weeds sneaking through, pulling them before they multiply. Don’t despair, child. You can have a beautiful garden yet! How about we work on getting some good plants planted?”

To Ponder: If we want to get rid of sin in our life, we have to not only put it off, but also put on Christ Jesus. We need to turn to away from sin and toward the Savior. Actively pursue Him. Make decisions to watch, read, spend our time, etc., in ways that promote His Fruit growing in our lives. For example, if you struggle with complaining, don’t just stop complaining, but also start praising. If you struggle with an addiction, don’t just stop, but also start filling your time with pursuing Jesus. What do you need to put off/put on today?

“to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)

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Changing Her Name

wedding

It had happened the moment she said “I do.” Instantly, her name changed. She had inherited her husband’s name, belongings, and being.

Anna smiled at the remembrance of the day she had gone from a Lawson to a Newman. Then her eyes moved back to the paper on her lap. The paper she had unthinkingly signed with her maiden name again. Would she never remember?

She’d been adjusting to her new name in other ways too. Her whole lifestyle had changed when she got married–she’d gone from being homeless, stealing or begging for each meal, to living with incredible wealth. Yet she’d forget that she now had her husband’s riches and fall back into her old street ways more often than she’d like to admit. Her failures loomed before her as mountains sometimes. She was so unworthy…

“You’re worthy because your my wife.” Anna remembered her husband’s precious words after she’d confessed to him her failures yet again. He saw her as worthy, not because of what she did, but because she was his wife!

And little by little, Anna was learning to live like the new, dearly loved woman she now was. She was learning to live in the truth of who she now was because of all her husband had bestowed on her. She was learning to live out her new name.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

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What Happened to “the Love You Had at First”?

love

“I’m still here.” All night long Ruben had been patiently waiting, trying to get his wife’s attention. He longed to spend time with her.

“I know,” Rose replied, hardly lifting her head from the pile of papers she was sorting. “But there’s just so much to do!”

Rose rubbed her tired head, thinking about how she needed to remember to pull out the meat for tomorrow’s dinner. She could still smell the aroma from the cookies she’d baked earlier to bring to some elderly neighbors. She needed to remember to put up those dishes before she went to bed. Oh, and a friend had asked her to look up something on the Internet for her — she couldn’t forget that.

“Rose, do you remember back to when we were courting and first married?” Ruben’s words interrupted her thoughts. “How we used to spend hours just talking and laughing together?”

Rose paused and looked up. Yes, she remembered. Ruben saw the answer in her face and continued, “What happened to that love you had?”

The words cut her to the quick. What had happened? In those early days, life was still busy, but she always made time to spend with Ruben. In fact, she remembered how they’d text throughout the day here and there, as hours seemed so long when apart. Everything in her centered around when she’d get to see him next. She lived off less sleep, choosing to stay up to talk with him. And her poor friends had  listened to her talk about him for hours — every conversation had somehow included him.

Now, she hardly talked about him — and her discussions with him were quick and distracted. She’d say hi while also checking her texts and moving the wash along. He was still what he’d always been — loving, caring, and trying to minister to her. But she’d been ignoring him.

Rose set her papers down, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She’d been doing a lot of good things, but she had let the most important get buried.

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” Revelation 2:2-5a (ESV)

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Story: The Football Player Who Didn’t Work Out

James wanted to be a great football player. He dreamed of making great plays and leading his team to victory.

With such a goal, you would think that James would be a frequent visitor to the gym. After all, all of the other athletes at his school were. They got up early, way before their classmates even thought about stirring, to work out. They jogged after school. Their entire lives revolved around staying in shape and preparing for the next football game.

But James didn’t do these things. He never seemed to have time to work out. When he showed up to practice, the drills completely exhausted him. Maybe he just wasn’t as talented as the others.

He kept telling everyone he knew that he wanted to get better. He was tired of not being able to keep up. Yet he didn’t really want to put in the effort…

“James, is football something worth pursuing?” his coach asked him one day.

“Of course!” James replied quickly.

“Then live like it,” the coach replied. Just like that, James realized that all his excuses were just that—excuses.

He slowly started to work out. But it wasn’t easy! Why did it seem like his muscles built themselves so slowly? And that if he missed a few days, it was even harder?

Yet slowly, imperceptibly sometimes, James’ muscles changed. And one day he surprised himself by being able to keep up on the football field.

—

Thought: What would it look like if we trained spiritually as seriously as athletes do physically by reading the Word, praying, trusting, praising and worshiping God, running to Jesus, etc.? He is worth it!

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (ESV)

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Story: Always a Way of Escape

“We’ve got you now.”

The evil voice came over the loudspeaker, with a hideous laugh.

Sam shuddered. It did indeed seem as if he was trapped. Hedges surrounded him on every side, looming above him and alongside him, as if they were about to devour him. All around was darkness. It was hopeless. Despair gripped his heart.

“I’ll always provide a way of escape”—his father’s words rang through his mind.

Sam looked around. He sure didn’t see a way to escape this. But his father never lied. “Father, show me the way of escape,” he cried. He looked closer at the hedges. Was that an opening he saw? There seemed to be a faint light coming through.

Sam moved closer to investigate. Sure enough, where before all had appeared to be darkness, he now could clearly see a small tunnel in the hedge. It wasn’t necessarily easy fitting through it, but Sam could make it. He got on his hands and knees and crawled through the hedge. The branches poked him, but on the other side—yes, it was true—he was free!

His father had indeed provided a way of escape—he just had to look for it.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)