ELF on Your Shelf
It's not the month of Christmas magic, but I can guess most of us have an ELF stuffed onto a shelf somewhere. Tucked away neatly in a box, patiently waiting for the next season.
I wonder if he has feelings?
Does he feel unnecessary, or unwanted, the rest of the time?
Does he think he is like a genie in a bottle, hoping you will hurry up and use those three wishes?
Do you think he is sad that he can't be with us every single day?
By now, you might think I am a raving lunatic, or a child with a wild imagination?
Funny, you say that.
If we could be honest, we are all guilty of putting our ELF on our shelf. Still confused? Stay with me here!
How many times do we run to God, hoping he will fix our problem(s) and as soon as the crisis is over, we immediately take over and return our genie to the bottle? His job is done, we think. We can take it from here. WE THINK.
What happens when the trouble doesn't go away? The problem can't be fixed? Your child doesn't come back? Your house can't be rebuilt? Your daughter won't be getting better? The mortgage doesn't get paid? Your spouse won't be home tomorrow? How many times can that bottle be rubbed to repair all that damage?
I am going to take you to a scene from apostle Paul's day, in Acts 17:22-29.
Paul is in Athens at the time, taking a walk down their streets, and he sees idols at every turn. It was a very superstitious place, their beliefs were sincere. They had every kind of elf on their shelves you could imagine. They didn't want to offend the gods and miss any, so they even had an altar - "To The Unknown God."
Paul, ever the opportunist, jumps at the chance to introduce them to the real God they were praying to.
"What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,[c] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;[d]
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’[e]
29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man."
When Paul was finished, some people made fun of him, but others wanted to know more about this God who has been there since the beginning.
The God who created us because He loves us.
The God who gave us the world and we chose our wishes instead.
The God who knows what we would do, because we are free to choose.
The God who had a plan to help us understand how much He loves us, when we are unlovable.
The God who made a nation of people who followed an insurmountable amount of rules, to help us to see that WE can not do it on our own.
The law drives us to the cross.
When we are already on our knees, all we must do is look up.
God is not on a shelf, twiddling His thumbs waiting for us to need Him again. He is there beside us every day. Through the good times and bad, He is right there. All we need to do is open our eyes and see.
Come and see...
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” - John 1:43-46
This scripture is very special to me. My son, Nathanael had it underlined in his Bible. I now invite you as well. Come and see.
Taken from stories of the journey of my life by: Sue Leerhoff Brick by Brick
Comments
Post a Comment