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A time for all things under the sun <3

It is hard for me to believe that we are already past the mid point of January.

I must say it was refreshing to not have a lot of Christmas trim to put away…two tiny trees that used to go on children’s dressers were strategically placed as we moved in. So I was able to tote those little guys downstairs in one trip and Voila! Christmas 2016 was cleaned up in short order.

But there is plenty to do, trust me, as we unpack the gazillion boxes tucked in every nook and cranny of our new home.

As I finish a box, I break it down and set it by the garage door. Packing papers are also tucked in an extra box and all of it is carted to the dumpster at work one load at a time.

I marvel how a couple of months ago I was bringing these same boxes home. Each one a coveted prize to add to our collection in the garage as we packed up all of our possessions in preparation for the move.

I asked people to save boxes and any materials useful for padding and was thrilled when friends and family unloaded these into my trunk at various meet ups.

But now they are just so much trash.

We don’t need them and it is a great relief to haul them back to the alley behind the store and deposit a trunk load of empties each week.

Life is like that, isn’t it?

Things that are useful and important in one season become just unnecessary baggage in another.

But the things that are eternal…those we hold on to.

Those things never lose their value.

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul talks about how at the end of this world, the special gifts of God will pass away…prophecy and speaking in tongues…the spiritual gifts…these will be just empty boxes that we no longer need.

They are useful and important now.

Now is when we want to pray for greater understanding and wisdom to use the giftings God has given us.

Now is when we live by faith and hope for His return.

Now is when we prayerfully employ every means of being equipped to live by and to share the Gospel.

Because there is a time coming when we will leave these gifts behind like broken down cardboard boxes in some dumpster.

Yes, according to Paul…in the end faith and hope and love are all that remain and the greatest of these…is love.

I have heard it said that when Christ returns, we will not need faith and hope any longer. Our eyes will see what our hearts believed and all our hope will be rewarded.

But love… the eternal LOVE of God the Father…this will be for eternity.

I pray we would have the grace to enjoy and employ the gifts and blessings of the days we are given here.

I pray we use well the time and resources we are given here and now for the here and now as we keep our eyes on the yet-to-be.

I pray we will have the inner strength to hold loosely the things of this world as we hold fast to the things of God <3

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