Last night we had some of our daycare friends stay for a
sleepover. This meant that the kids saw parts of our morning routine that they
would not normally see. As a 3 year old boy was passing through the kitchen, he
saw how far along I was in making the daycare's morning smoothie, and he said,
"I don't like green smoothies." I told him I wasn't finished yet, and
that this is the same way I make their smoothie every day. When I was finished,
adding the distinctive color of frozen blueberries, he could then see that it
looked the way he expected.
This reminded me of the way that God is always at his work,
working things in us that he wants us to will and to work for his good pleasure
and our complete joy, but he may show us parts of his work that look quite
different from the finished product. If we imagine that he is "done",
we will treat such work as a mistake; or we will respond with a "I don't
like green smoothies," kind of reaction.
On the other hand, if we sincerely believe that God is
working towards that final end of fully restoring us to the image and likeness
of his Son, understanding that there is a lot of not-like-Jesus stuff in us to
get rid of, we can accept that the ongoing work of God will not always look
even remotely close to the finished product his word speaks about.
There will be days in our lives that God's refining furnace
has just started a work that leaves us extremely aware of the dross in our
lives. Sometimes that is all we can see, the things that are wrong with us.
But, if we understand the Beatitudinal journey from poverty of spirit, through
mourning, and into a meekness that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, we
can accept the green-smoothie days that we know are on their way to something
better.
Well, the smoothies are done. As usual, the finished product
tastes great, almost like I must be cheating on something it tastes so good. If
anyone saw what I started with, and didn't realize that I had to do the work of
removing the banana and orange peels before adding them to the mix, they might
have worried that the final result would not be too a-peeling (or be too
a-peeling, if you will).
However, knowing that the removing of parts of the fruit and
vegetables is just as important as what is saved, and that it is the collection
of fruits and vegetables into a final product that makes the addition of each individual
item absolutely sensible, we can face today's inclusion of ingredients knowing
that our Father in heaven will not fail to complete the finished product just
as his word has described the recipe for a couple of millennia.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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