What
Do You Do?
Jesus
is hungry but feeds others; He grows weary but offers others rest; He is the
King Messiah but pays tribute; He is called the devil but casts out demons; He
dies the death of a sinner but
comes to save His people from their sins; He is sold for thirty pieces of
silver but gives His life a ransom for many; He will not turn stones to bread
for Himself but gives His own body as bread for people. D.A. Carson
Social conversation is kind of
interesting. Do you ever attend an event
and stand around making idle conversation?
I used to be totally inept at this.
I was shy and introverted so when the opportunity arose for me to make
idle conversation my mind was an absolute blank. There was nothing to draw from. My mind just froze and nothing came out. I would stand there trying desperately to
think of something to say that would be witty and funny but there was just a
big blank.
Then I found my voice. There are probably some who wish I had never
found it but I did. I was thinking about
this because recently my husband and I went to Whataburger for breakfast. My husband went up to the counter and I was
sitting in the booth by myself. Directly
across from me was an older couple who were sitting in the next booth facing
me. In my old life I would have avoided
eye contact because I wouldn’t know what to say.
Then there is the new me. I nodded and smiled at the couple and told
them good morning. One of the ways that
I learned to open up was I would observe things about other people. The older gentleman had on a United States
Air Force cap. I asked him if he served
in the Air Force. That was easy. He said yes he did. I turned to him and told him that I appreciated
his service. He humbly said “I didn’t do
much when I was there.” I told him that
wasn’t true because just being there was important for the rest of us. His eyes teared up and he had the biggest
smile on his face. That alone was worth the conversation.
One of the things I have watched my sister do
over the years is if she sees anyone in uniform or anything that tells her they
could be military, she makes a point to walk over and shake their hand and
thank them for their service. It is
amazing how their faces light up when she does that. It is a small gesture but it shows them that
people do care and that what they do matters.
As I was thinking about this I thought about
how a lot of people will start a conversation with “What do you do?” I thought about the humbleness of this older
gentleman and a thought came to my mind.
What would happen if when someone asked me that question, if I turned to
them and said “I am a Sinner.” Most of
the time people want to impress others with their title so they make a point to
elaborate on their qualifications and how they got the title.
There is not much to be impressed about if I
am a Sinner. It kind of deflates the
over-inflated ego when you admit that is what you are. It also puts you in a position that is lower
than the other person. I mean it is not
hard to come up with a better title than Sinner. In the proper terminology it is called
humbling yourself to another person. Maybe
if each one of us admitted to a complete stranger that we are a Sinner, it
would change the world. Too many times
we want to be at the top looking down at others when the best place we can be
is at the bottom.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, there have been times in my life when I had big fancy titles
but the title didn’t mean a thing in light of eternity. Too many times I thought that was important
when in reality I am nothing but a sinner in this life. Jesus died so that I could have the most
important title in the world. Child of
God. It doesn’t get any better than
that.
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