Make the most of yourself….. for that is all there is of you! – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like it.  How about you?

Reminds me of two verses I was also taught to teach that we should give all we have, since we are doing it for Him.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God! 1 Corinthians 10:31

Give what you got!

However, last year, I started thinking about this song a little differently, and even more so this year.  Now, let me stop and say that it’s not that I have developed an affection for it, but I have been able to begin to tolerate it.  I guess it’s not really about a made up drummer boy, and his drum.  It’s really a lesson about giving all you have to the Savior of the world. ( I know many of you are saying Duh , where have you been!)

As the Holiday approaches very rapidly, I am sure you will hear many renditions of this number on the internet or over the air waves.  As you do remember these two little bits of wisdom from the scriptures.

¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 New International Version (NIV)

That sticker is from Chattanooga Stand, which is a non-profit whose work was to encourage people to think about the city and to create new ideas and changes that move the city into a positive future direction.

But hey , I like the message.  Because it’s so fitting.  If you want change, you can’t just wake up tomorrow and be like – “hey, I am different now!”  No, you future depends on what you do today.  It’s the same idea that I expressed earlier in the week with the braces post.

So what do you want to be like to tomorrow?  Start that today.

²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  Colossians 3:2 New International Version (NIV)

 

Fortunately for her, she was able to maneuver her vehicle in a way that there was no collision.  However, she stated, related to greed, that she wonder how she would have been if she had wrecked the car, which she loved.  She was concerned that maybe she was holding on to tight to stuff.

hmm,

Well as many of you know, I live on the phone.  Not that I love to talk, I am just on the phone a whole lot.  I also love my iPhone!  Recently I saw a site where people post pictures of the  essential stuff in their lives.  For me, its my car keys, my very small money clip/credit card holder, my sunglasses,  my iPhone and my Bluetooth headset.  With those elements, I can go just about any where and be fine.  (sometimes I might want a gallon of sweat tea, and of course at night a toothbrush!)

Anyway, earlier this week, the receiver on my iPhone died.  That’s the speaker that you listen with.  The headphones work, the speakers work, but the receiver just does not.  That makes a phone hard to use!  So, no biggie right, just use the Bluetooth headset.  Well, it seems that in the last week I have lost my most favorite Bluetooth headset.

argh….

Since then, I have been so anxious.  I have spent hours trying to fix my phone.  I have spent hours searching my cars, the rooms in the house, my bags, my wife’s bags, dresser drawers, wherever I could look to find that headset.

As a matter of fact I laid in bed Wednesday night, frantically trying to remember where I could have let that headset and lamenting the current state of my favorite piece of technology.

And that’s when I remembered Jill.  Could it be that I was getting a message about how much I was “holding on” to these devices.  Could if be that I was placing them in front of things that are more important and boom – now they are being taken from me?

I dunno.  But I can say that this helped me remember that they are just things.  Things the are to be helpers, not rulers.

The book of Colossians compares greed to idolatry.

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Colossians 3:5New International Version (NIV)

And I can tell you as much as I use my iPhone and even with the amount of utility it brings to my life, I still really don’t want to think that I worship it!  But maybe I have been?  What I do know that Jill and my iPhone’s issue have given me a great reminder this week about where my treasure is and where is should be!

    ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 New International Version (NIV)

What are you holding on to?

Anyway, by providing the official drink of software development ( and gaming) – Mountain Dew Code Red, and by giving away door prizes that included Nerds, Goobers and Smartees, I think I keep them interested in the life of a Software Engineer.

But what I really wanted to share with you was the verse that I shared with them at the end.  When all is said and done, I told them to pick a career that they enjoyed and that ultimately put them in a place where they could give the glory to God – no matter what is was.

And amazingly, I stayed right in Colossians 3, where it seems I am spending the entire week.

I just want to be peace in storms.

I was sick – sick of the frustrating battles with my teenager, sick of the constant striving at work, sick of the ridiculous distractions that wrap me up and warp my viewpoints – sick of not just letting the spirit do what the spirit does.

That day was not the first time this thought was in my mind, but since that day I have prayed that prayer almost every day at some point in the day. And you know what – it has helped me grow is so many uncountable ways.!

So this past weekend as I cruised through Colossians I rediscovered this verse that I just love.  I hope it helps you as well.

Be peace, be thankful, be Christ.

I wrote down one note during the week.It was on a hike where the instructor was telling the children about different types of rock.  She mentioned one particular type of rock – “Metamorphic”.  I took off my pack, open the zipper, grabbed my Moleskin and scribbled down these words:

Metamorphic -> changed by the environment.  A type of rock, or a type of Christian?

It’s the idea of being changed, and helping others to change that struck me. It was as  if her words were a rock thrown toward my head.

I have come back to those thoughts several times, and since that time the book of Colossians seems to find its way in front of my eyes.  In Colossians we can find this somewhat famous line:

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  3:7 NIV

Changed!

Changed, not by the environment as much as by the mercy of God and the love of Christ.  But changed none the less.

Colossians 3 continues with this:

…since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 9-10

and then it ends when the results of the change

 ¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:12-14 New International Version (NIV)

 

If you were a rock, would you be classified as metamorphic?

I thought I would start off with the song Scarred But Smarter.  I like this particular part of this song:

There’s always a chance to get restarted to a new world, new life, Scarred by Smarter!

It’s such a story of redemption and forgiveness.   It’s screams the idea of learning from the past, leaving it behind and moving forward.  It’s something we all can think about as we start each day anew.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:12

 ⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3

And then I thought about how at the Holy Lands Park on Monday they recreated the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ and his second coming, and again how that was just like a tease since it was something that we lots of us look forward to, but alas it is not here yet.

So I thought I had a great thought about shadows and how those glimpses into the future keep us motivated to keep moving.  I even thought that this verse in Colossians would be great for that,

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ Colossians 2:17

But it was just a shadow of a thought, a passing glimpse, not even a real post, so I will just share this encouraging verse today instead:

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17

I saw the same thing a few weeks ago with the UTC football coaches when I was able to spend a few moments breaking down game film with them at a First Things First parenting event.  They had incredible knowledge and an incredible desire to win football games. 

I am so envious of the passion these people possess.  I love the focus and their desire for one thing.  I notice at my corporate America employment site it can become very easy to lose focus on the goal.  It’s so easy to get distracted and be going in a direction that makes no sense.

So, that is why I am so envious of the passion that is so evident in these people – focus, determined, heading toward one goal.

Hm, sort of what our creator expects from us! 

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17, New International Version)

This is the type of passion that I yearn for, one focus, one desire, on tasks. How about you?