A Parade . . .and More!

A little boy who lived far out in the country in the late 1800s had reached the age of twelve and had never in all his life seen a circus. You can imagine his excitement, when one day a poster went up at school announcing that on the next Saturday a traveling circus was coming to the nearby town. He ran home with the glad news and the question, "Daddy, can I go?" Although the family was poor, the father sensed how important this was to the lad. "If you do your Saturday chores ahead of time," he said, "I'll see to it that you have the money to go."

Come Saturday morning, the chores were done and the little boy stood by the breakfast table, dressed in his Sunday best. His father reached down into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out a dollar bill - the most money the little boy had possessed at one time in all his life. The father cautioned him to be careful and then sent him on his way to town.

The boy was so excited, his feet hardly seemed to touch the ground all the way. As he neared the outskirts of the village, he noticed people lining the streets, and he worked his way through the crowd until he could see what was happening. Lo and behold, it was the approaching spectacle of a circus parade!

The parade was the grandest thing this lad had ever seen. Caged animals snarled as they passed, bands beat their rhythms and sounded shining instruments, midgets performed acrobatics while flags and ribbons swirled overhead. Finally, after everything had passed where he was standing, the traditional circus clown, with floppy shoes, baggy pants and a brightly painted face, brought up the rear. As the clown passed by, the little boy reached into his pocket and took out that precious dollar bill. Handing the money to the clown, the boy turned and went home.

What had happened? The boy thought he had seen the circus when he had only seen the parade!

In just a few days, we will celebrate Palm Sunday. The day we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey while people waved palm branches and shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" (Matt. 21:9)

It is wonderful to think about the pomp and circumstance that Jesus Christ enjoyed as people gave Him a hypothetical high-five. Despite the fact that there was misunderstanding of why He had come to Jerusalem, they were still lifting Him up and applauding Him.

The Word of God is full of verses that command us to "praise the Lord"; and rightly so. Even Jesus told the Pharisees who were upset that the disciples were praising Him on this day: "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40).

However, don't get caught up in the parade! The Christian life is a marvelous adventure, an exciting journey. Many people - including Christians - seem to be content to float in a sea of mediocrity, settling for second best; settling for just the parade. Do you want the abundant life that Jesus promised? Do you want to live life to the fullest? Are you experiencing all that God has for you? Then aim higher. Don't set your sights too low. Determine to become all that God created you to be. Give yourself to Christ, follow Him completely, and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through you. You ain't sen nothin' yet!!!!

God's Constant Presence

Well, it has started! March Madness is officially upon us. And amazing as it is, there have already been some upsets and some "giants" have fallen. Every year, it seems that a team or two that hasn't been given much of a chance rock the college basketball world by beating a team that probably was too sure of a win.

This year, 2010, it has happened in the first day. A number three ranked team in their bracket was defeated by the number fourteen ranked team. A team that by some was projected to go far in the tournament is now done.

As I thought about this, I realized that there are a lot of Christians, who for whatever reason, believe that they are not significant enough and there is no way they can do anything for the Lord. Had that #14 ranked team thought this, they would be the team going home.

I know that we think that because even people in the Bible struggled with feeling or believing they were less than important. In Judges 6, we find God calling Gideon to save Israel out of the hand of the Midianites. We have a tendency to criticize Gideon for his response, but if we are honest, we probably would say something similar: "But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (Judges 6:15).

"But God, who am I? I don't have any special gifts or abilities. I am a nobody. I have this problem, that issue, and you can't possibly want to use me!" Sound familiar? Well, maybe you never told God that directly, but you sure have thought it!

Despite Gideon's lack of faith, God's response is short and to the point: "I will be with you..." Judges 6:16). God simply told Gideon, "I am not asking you to do this alone. I am not asking you to come up with a plan and execute it all by your lonesome. I will be with you. I have your back!"

No matter the view you have of yourself, it is important that you remember that God is with you. God has your back! God will empower you for whatever task He calls you to do. John tells us: "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China for 51 years, said, "All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them."

So what about you? What "GREAT" thing will you do today, simply because you believe that when God says, "I will be with you," He means it?

So, the next time you are feeling less than adequate for the task that God is calling you to do, just remember that you are a child of God, dearly loved, fully equipped for the task at hand.

It's Not Over Until It's Over!

It's March and that means NCAA conference tournaments and March Madness! Man, I love this time of year! It's amazing how every year, teams that have not done well during the regular season, somehow put it together and play well against teams that are much higher ranked. I just watch the replay of the last seconds of the Ohio State/Michigan game. With 2.2 seconds left, a player from Ohio State made a 3-point shot from just inside half-court; Ohio State wins!

Despite being down 2 points, those players on the court knew that until the buzzer sounds, the game is not over. No matter what had been done up until that point was irrelevant at the moment. Too focus on the last 39+ minutes would surely result in losing. The focus was on the present and what needed to be done in order to have a chance to win.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we "ARE God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (emphasis mine).

That word "are" means that the game is not over yet. God is still making/working/creating in us to be effective tools for Him. Which means that we still have work to do. For us to focus on the past, whether good, bad or indifferent, is not being focused on what God wants us to be doing right now.

So no matter what has happened in the past, whether yesterday or years ago, God wants us to be focused on the here and now. We should want the ball, figuratively speaking, and do what we can to forward the cause of Christ. It is no secret we live in a world that is overwhelmed by hopelessness. It is our responsibility, privilege and mission to share the hope of Christ with those we come in contact with each day. That is the game we have to play. It is time we get in the game, focus on the present and remember that God doesn't use our past to determine our future.

P.S. - Go Buckeyes!

The Big Rock

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel.

In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The lad dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very large.) When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn't roll it up and over the little wall.

Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved - but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration.

All this time the boy's father watched from the living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears feel, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy's father. Gently but firmly he said, "Son, why didn't you use all the strength that you had available?"

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, "But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!"

"No, son," corrected the father kindly. "You didn't use all the strength you had. You didn't ask me."

With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.

We all have "rocks" in our lives. And we, just like the little boy, shove, push and pry, trying to get the rocks out of our lives. We know that we don't have the strength or ability to remove them, and yet we insist on trying. God is always available to us and willing to give us the strength we need to overcome obstacles and to accomplish great things for Him.

The psalmist says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). Will you use His strength or insist on trying to do it all by yourself? Why not let the One who calmed the sea, raised the dead, turned water into wine, healed the sick, be the One that empowers you to overcome those "rocks" in your life?