iCandy 2.0 (12/11/09)
Have you ever stood eye to eye with a sheep and really looked at its eyes? If you haven't, come early one night...
Have you ever stood eye to eye with a sheep and really looked at its eyes? If you haven’t, come early one night to the nativity and look deep into the eyes of a sheep. I am sure it will change your life. Every day, the sheep in the pen need to be fed just the right amount of alfalfa. Not too much, not too little. If you feed them too much, they will eat themselves to death. If you feed them too little, they will be hungry.
Bad things happen when sheep get hungry.
My day to feed the sheep is Wednesday. I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of wednesday for my turn to feed the sheep. As many of you know, wednesday was pretty rainy and cold. I ran out and threw in their small amount of alfalfa and ran back inside. Good thing I didn’t wear flip-flops like usual. Unbeknownst to me, the sheep ate their food, and were still hungry. Well, later in the day the sun came out and I went out to feed them a second time at lunch.
Sheep don’t belong in Bethlehem.
But that’s just where they were. It turns out, there is a nice patch of green grass on the other side of the fence, and the sheep were hungry. I was supposed to feed them two bundles of alfalfa in the morning and two at lunch. The sheep were hungry, and broke out of their pen! My first day on the job as sheep feeder, and I failed. RATS! Once they were back in the pen, I went out and looked at them.
Eye to eye. Man to sheep. Toe to hoof.
And as I stood there, I began thinking. We, as believers, are a lot like sheep. Each day we feed on the word of God and constantly need to be filled with truth. When we are not filled with God’s word as the truth, we begin to think other things will fill us in the same way.
There is no substitute for God’s Word.
It fills us, heals us, breaks us, and convicts us. Any cheap imitation of this intimacy with God will only make us more empty. I read a quote today that speaks about this. “Healing begins when we recognize how vulnerable our empty places make us and seek wholeness in Christ alone.” God has blessed us with a pasture of the most satisfying alfalfa around, and we sell ourselves short for the green weeds on the other side of the fence.
This past week, the junior high and high school were involved in serving others. The high school worked and prepared the church inside and out for the first night of nativity. They were an instrument in God’s hands that prepare the way for others to come and see Jesus. The junior high group went into Camden and handed out hot chocolate, cookies, and winter clothing items to needy people on the streets. Our experiences were rich and filled with Jesus, but experiences alone cannot fill us.
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” - Isaiah 40:6-8
May our experiences in this life be rich because our hearts and minds are inwardly being transformed by the word of God which stands forever.
Because we all need Jesus.
PM (Pastor Mike)
