Last night I
was getting my backpack ready for church today. Today was my day to teach and I
like to have things to help the children connect with the lesson so I carry
them in my backpack. I needed more things than usual for today. Furthermore, I
walk to church on the Sunday mornings I teach so that my husband can drive to
second service and we can attend together. It is a twenty-five to thirty minute
walk (depending on my paceJ). Normally, I love walking to church and I usually do not have much to carry.
I noticed
last night that with every item I packed I had the same thought; Oh, this is going to make the bag heavy. In went 3
cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 1 ½ cups of water, table decorations, some miscellaneous items and finally my
Bible; My Bible is BIG!
I needed
everything I packed, but with every item I packed, my desire to walk to church
decreased; I did not want to bear the load. Yet with the decreasing desire,
came the inspiring thoughts; Jesus bore a cross.
Jesus did
not just bear something heavy, He bore something shameful, and messy. Why did
He do this? My Bible tells me Jesus did it because He loves me; In fact He
loves the whole world!
I do not have to bear any shame. I get to
teach some children about the love of God in Christ. I may sweat a little
getting to church, but I am not going to bleed. With every thought, my
apprehension waned while my joy increased.
Only God can give joy and peace in forgetting
about ourselves.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Hebrews 12:2
“…looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher
of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.”
