If you are hoping that today’s thoughts are deeply
theological…you will be disappointed. I
just feel like sharing with you something that’s been rambling in my head the
past couple of days.
I’m confident that I’ve mentioned once or twice that we have an
amazing, adorable, super smart and dearly loved grandson, Elias. He is 18 months old and filled to the brim
with orneriness. His eyes just sparkle
and his huge grin sure makes my heart melt.
It seems like every time we see Eli, he is doing or saying
something new. But what he began doing
this past week, not only made my heart melt but also brought a few tears to my
eyes. For quite awhile now, he has come
to me and patted my leg and then signed “please” (his parents are teaching him
sign language, English and Mandarin). I
quickly learned that this meant that he wanted to sit on my lap, which of
course thrilled me. But this past week,
he has ramped up the enthusiasm when we are with him and he now raises his arms
straight up in the air as he runs as fast as he can towards my husband or
me. Once he gets to one of us, he throws
his arms around us and gives us a hug and then plants a kiss on our cheek. Could life get any better than that?
Another first that we witnessed recently occurred when it was
time for Eli to leave to go home. He
hugged me tight and melted into tears because he wanted to stay longer. Let’s just say that his eyes weren’t the only
ones that were leaking that night J
Elias’ show of affection for us is such a bright spot in our day
and this got me thinking. Is this the
kind of affection that I show my Heavenly Father every day? Do I race to get to my place every morning
where I spend time in His Word and in prayer?
By my actions, am I showing Him how much I love Him…or do I act like our
time together is a drudgery that I just want to get done with so I can go on
with my day? Do I ever enjoy my time
with Him so much that I feel deep sadness when I have to stop reading His Word
because of my day’s obligations?
I wish I could honestly answer “YES” to each of these questions,
but I can’t. As I grow in Him, I’m
having more and more days where I can say “YES”, but I know that He wants me to
feel this way every day. I know it must
bring Him such joy when He sees me anxious and excited to spend time with
Him…and deep sadness when He doesn’t.
In just a few short weeks we will celebrate Christmas and many
of us are spending hours trying to find the perfect gifts for those we
love. I don’t think there is anything
wrong with that, but we need to make sure that we are also seeking the perfect
gift for the One whose birthday we are celebrating. I just have a feeling that what He wants from
us can’t be bought in a store or ordered online. I’m guessing the ideal gift for Him would include
showing Him how much we love Him, by spending time in His presence…wrapping our
arms around Him and holding on tight.
We are so excited that in March we will welcome another grandson
into our family when Elias becomes a big brother. We just couldn’t be more thrilled and can
hardly wait for his arrival. But there
is another arrival that we should be even more excited about and that is the
return of our Lord. Just as we are
counting the days until our grandson arrives, we should be counting the days
until Christ returns for His sons and daughters. We don’t know when this will be, but we know
it will happen and we dare not waste any time preparing for His return. There are many who don’t have a clue that
this day is on the horizon and so it is priority that we focus on spreading the
word that He is coming again.
I wonder sometimes why I find it easy to brag about Elias, but
often fail to tell others
about everything that Christ has done for me. He has impressed on me that as I go through
this Christmas season, I need to make sure others see that my passion and love
for the newborn King far exceeds my love for things of this world. But for the world to see Him in me, it is
imperative that I run to His open arms every day, spending time in His
presence. Time not given with drudgery,
but with a deep longing to show Him what He means to me. I bet if that is my desire, I just might shed
a tear or two when the time comes to leave my quiet place to begin my day,
because life just couldn’t get any better than spending time with Him!
Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God
with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.'
Matthew
22:37
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