Monday, December 11, 2017

Consuming vs. Sharing

Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to go to Walt Disney World. It is truly a magical place to us and one of our favorite places to go. And when we are there we try to be as nice as possible to the Cast Members (employees) who work there. We have seen people treat them horribly for things they can't control, and after taking that from so many people we'd rather build them up then tear them down.

What I realized in doing this on our last trip is how we had a different focus than many others. There are people there who are showing up to consume the magic of Disney. They deserve the best things. They paid for this trip and are going to get everything out of it.

But there are others who are there to share the magic. People make cards for Cast Members to say thank-you. They pick up trash even though it's not their job just because they see trash on the ground. They don't get mad when a ride breaks down because they understand it's not the Cast Member's fault and yelling isn't going to do anything but make everyone unhappy. Instead they try to find other magic to focus on and share.

After watching this all week I started to wonder if we do this to church on Sunday morning (or whenever you worship). Am I there to "consume" my time with Jesus? Does everything have to go my way, do I complain about the temperature, do I make sure I get my seat and if not those in it hear about it? Or am I "sharing" Jesus while at worship? Am I welcoming, hospitable, do I genuinely live-out Jesus to everyone I see while I am worshipping Him?

Worship, like Disney World, can be all about you or all about others? Which do you choose, and how do your actions reflect that?

T

Monday, December 04, 2017

Thankfulness

A moment of reflection:

You just spent the last weekend focusing on being thankful. So how did you show you were thankful? To whom and for what?

Sometimes being thankful is like eating healthy at Thanksgiving. We say we're doing it but have a plate full of stuffing. To really eat healthy at Thanksgiving you have to think about it, a lot.

So think about it, how were you thankful? What ways can you be thankful this week?

Just like eating healthy, it takes a while to see a difference. But if you keep at it everyone around you will notice the change in your thankfulness.

Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Ephesians 4:20 (TLB)

T