That Puddle, This Prospect

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Matthew 7:21

Darkness lasts longer on rainy mornings in October. In the alley near my building a long puddle has formed. The noise that puddle creates as vehicles drive through amuses me as I try to describe the various sounds. The sound is dependent upon the speed of the vehicle and and the weight of the vehicle. At times it is a quick hiss, or sounds like a piece of paper being crumpled and sometimes it is a violent, angry splashing.

Our lives are in darkness until we form a relationship with God. Building and maintaining a life with God as the foundation can and should be a life long commitment and endeavor.

Throughout our lives our brains process all types of stimuli. Sounds, smells, tastes, sights, touch are always being reviewed. We live with a constant bombardment of sensation and stimulation.

Understanding and controlling our responses can be very difficult. All decisions have consequences, seen and unseen. Often what we consider to be insignificant can easily become very important to someone else.

I believe that the focus of life of all Christian is each day to move a little closer to God. To achieve that we must remember to temper all our actions with God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s love. When we are acting in his name it is important that are words and deeds are clearly his words and deeds. We must put aside ourselves, our pride, our vanity, our pettiness. We must behave in such a way that all the goodness which is God flows from us and is clearly visible to all. Doing God’s work is very difficult; it requires a steadfastness, a strength of character, and a beautiful, dynamic, overflowing love and belief in God. Doing God’s work requires an gentle enthusiasm always be required. Doing God’s work requires patience and wisdom.

The person who does God’s work should always understand that others are looking to them for guidance, support, and inspiration. It is a great responsibility; at times it might become a great burden. But a person who truly believes in God, believes the teachings of this Faith, believes that God is present in all our actions understands this and their lives become inspirational touchstones.

We must always be happy to do God’s work; we must always share that happiness and ask others to join us. Others will respond favorably when they are able to see how Faith manifests itself in our lives, to hear how we honor and respect God in our conversations and discussions, to feel our Faith and love for God by simply being in our presence.

Within all of us there is a little darkness; being human means having all types of combinations. Being Christian means working hard to leave the darkness, to lead others from the darkness. Being Christian means moving closer to the light, moving closer to God, and living Faith based lives with an atmosphere of humility, charity, compassion and hope which will both encourage and inspire others to follow in Christ’s footsteps.

For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:20