millstones
This past Sunday's gospel reading was pretty in your face. Jesus, I don't care what anyone says, was NOT a nice guy. That doesn't mean He wasn't loving, but let's be real...anyone who says "if you lead one of these little ones astray it would be better for him to wrap a millstone around his neck and cast himself into the sea" is not a "nice" guy. He's a "real" guy. Yep, I think Jesus was a real guy. A really not nice kind of guy! But at the same time, you always knew where you stood with Him. I think we still know where we stand with Him. He isn't going to sugarcoat the truth, or water it down. He will tell you like it is. Wrap that millstone around your neck, my friend and cast away!
This is one of the stories in the Bible I like to joke around a lot with because it's so to the point. But the reason I can joke around with it so much is because I know and understand the importance of it. I can see that story and relate it to my own life. I can see that millstone and ask myself if everything I am doing is truthful and loving...or if I should be wrapping that millstone around my neck. I work with kids for a living and I better be darn sure that I am leading kids closer to God and not further away. I can never let my own insecurities or opinions lead someone away from Christ or having a personal relationship with Him. I have to know that how I live my life reflects the relationship I have with Christ and therefore witness to Him. Do I always do that? Certainly not. We all mess up and make decisions that lead us away from Christ, but it's in turning back that we set the example. It's by repenting and stating that we were in the wrong that we show people how to set the bar higher for themselves in order to make it to heaven. Jesus is that bar that we are setting. Do we set Jesus really low in our lives? Or is He "the bar" that we are reaching for, striving for? Are we striving to set that example for everyone around us, or should we be looking for a millstone? Priase God He always lets us come back when we mess up, Amen!
This is one of the stories in the Bible I like to joke around a lot with because it's so to the point. But the reason I can joke around with it so much is because I know and understand the importance of it. I can see that story and relate it to my own life. I can see that millstone and ask myself if everything I am doing is truthful and loving...or if I should be wrapping that millstone around my neck. I work with kids for a living and I better be darn sure that I am leading kids closer to God and not further away. I can never let my own insecurities or opinions lead someone away from Christ or having a personal relationship with Him. I have to know that how I live my life reflects the relationship I have with Christ and therefore witness to Him. Do I always do that? Certainly not. We all mess up and make decisions that lead us away from Christ, but it's in turning back that we set the example. It's by repenting and stating that we were in the wrong that we show people how to set the bar higher for themselves in order to make it to heaven. Jesus is that bar that we are setting. Do we set Jesus really low in our lives? Or is He "the bar" that we are reaching for, striving for? Are we striving to set that example for everyone around us, or should we be looking for a millstone? Priase God He always lets us come back when we mess up, Amen!
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