I walked into Hobby Lobby the other day and I saw a sight that blew me away. Christmas decorations. Yes, the employees in Hobby Lobby were already putting up aisle after aisle of Christmas decorations.
I all of the sudden felt rushed. I literally had to stop and tell myself that it was indeed only July and no matter what Hobby Lobby wants me to think, Christmas is not right around the corner, it is half a year away!!
Stores are always trying to get me on to the next thing. Like have you ever noticed the spring clothes that they put out in January? They are trying to capitalize on the excitement of what is coming next. Are you hot and bored of summer? Think about Christmas. Are you tired of your winter wardrobe? Spring is just around the corner.
The enemy does this to me too.
He tries to tell me that I want my 2 year old to grow up so our home will not be so chaotic.
He tries to tell me that I am ready for school to start because my kids are bored of being home all summer (and they are annoying me).
He whispers that your house is too small. Or your car is too old. Or you would be better off ending your marriage in divorce. Or that you would be happier in a different job. Or maybe happier at a different church.
The truth is contentment comes from Jesus. And Jesus wants me to enjoy each day that I have been given. 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Always looking to what is next is a dangerous thing. Yes it is good to look forward to the future and plan for the future but I will never be able to enjoy my future if I can’t learn to enjoy today.
If I started decorating for Christmas now, I would be so sick of Christmas by the time it came around. In the same way, I must learn to enjoy the NOW because if I don’t, I won’t be able to enjoy tomorrow when it comes.
Monday Morning Commentary
Monday July 29, 2013 | Monday Morning CommentaryWhat a weekend! My husband brought a powerful word that I think I would put in my top ten favorite sermons of all time. We are in week 2 of our series, This is Your Permission Slip. It is a series about the liberties found in Christ, how God is a God of permission, not restriction.
This weekend the sermon was based out of 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 where we learned that God is a YES God. My husband took us back to the original list of rules, the 10 Commandments. He taught us that God is a God who brought us out of slavery. He has no intentions for us to be enslaved to the law but rather to be free!
We learned that when you start with the “Thou Shalt Not” God will always seem like a burden. But when you start with the “That you may!” you realize that everything God asks of us is so that we may experience something even better.
God is a YES God! There is so much more I want to say about this but I don’t want to spoil it for you if you are going to watch it. And I hope you will. The concept of God being a YES God is something that, I hope, will follow me the rest of my life.
You can watch the message on the Elevation Network, in our archive and on our podcast.
Have a great Monday!