Reason #968
Where did the week go? This has to have been the fastest and most exhausting week I've had in a long time. I think the fact that it was such an exhausting weekend made the week even harder. I came home from work with no desire to cook. Aaron agreed that dinner out sounded like a good idea. We finished dinner, came home and watched a really horrible movie, and by the time it was over my sweet tooth had kicked in. I don't keep sweets around the house for the very reason that I will eat them, but Aaron found a fix for me. He had three chocolate kisses in his nightstand that he kindly handed over. My taste buds were pretty excited, and as I unwrapped that first kiss and popped it in my mouth, I got something I did not expect.
Last year I came up with a birthday countdown for Aaron's birthday. Each day I would give him a little gift that correlated with the number of days left until his birthday. His birthday is in October, so it has almost been a full year since this took place. Keep that in mind. I tried to come up with a clever little saying for each gift I gave him, and one of those days included a lot of chocolate kisses. I say a lot, but it wasn't more than 25. Anyways, the chocolate kisses he gave me tonight were from that very gift. He has rationed those things out. I wouldn't have been able to let anything chocolate last that long. But he also had a few packs of spearmint gum in the same drawer with the kisses. That's right...gum and chocolate. You can guess what happened.
My mouth was confused. It looked like chocolate, and it was supposed to be chocolate. In fact, it was made of chocolate, but all I could taste was spearmint. Not like a hint of spearmint, either. It was like I was chewing a piece of gum that had the consistency and texture of a chocolate kiss. I was highly disappointed. I was expecting a chocolate kiss, but the kisses and the gum had been together too long. Unfortunately, the gum made its impression on those kisses, so I didn't even bother to eat the other two.
The things that surround you will rub off on you. It's true. If you hang around someone long enough, you begin to act like them. You may find yourself sounding like them or using the same phrases they do. The more time you spend with them, the more you start to think like them. You may even begin to dress like them, wear your hair the same way, or shop at the same stores. Sometimes, when you keep yourself in the constant company of others, you begin to look like them. Maybe not physically, but your lifestyle does. And people who knew you might be surprised. They might say, "That girl still looks the same on the outside, but she's different. She's not the same person she used to be." And even though you've got the same wrapping, they can tell you're different. Someone has rubbed off on you. Someone has left a last impression on you, and no matter what the outside looks like, you can't cover up the change that has taken place.
It works for both the good and the bad, and if you spend your time with the Lord, it should make a difference. People should be able to see it. You can look the part, but people know. Because when they get a taste of you, when they're around you for any length of time, you start to rub off on them. You start to make a difference in their lives, and they can quickly tell if you're really made of what you say you are. For as easily as we're effect, we effect others. And the truth is, we have control over both of those things. You may not see if, you may not realize it, but you decide who changes your life, and you decide what kind of difference maker you'll be.
Chocolate kisses are best in their true, unaltered form. You, child of God, are, too. And the good thing is that if we've gotten a little bad rubbed off on us, the Lord's goodness can easily take care of that. He will cleanse you, purify you, and restore you to your true, unaltered form. So if you've been changed to look the part, be the part. Don't leave people surprised or guessing.
#968 - Because His goodness rubs off on us.
Last year I came up with a birthday countdown for Aaron's birthday. Each day I would give him a little gift that correlated with the number of days left until his birthday. His birthday is in October, so it has almost been a full year since this took place. Keep that in mind. I tried to come up with a clever little saying for each gift I gave him, and one of those days included a lot of chocolate kisses. I say a lot, but it wasn't more than 25. Anyways, the chocolate kisses he gave me tonight were from that very gift. He has rationed those things out. I wouldn't have been able to let anything chocolate last that long. But he also had a few packs of spearmint gum in the same drawer with the kisses. That's right...gum and chocolate. You can guess what happened.
My mouth was confused. It looked like chocolate, and it was supposed to be chocolate. In fact, it was made of chocolate, but all I could taste was spearmint. Not like a hint of spearmint, either. It was like I was chewing a piece of gum that had the consistency and texture of a chocolate kiss. I was highly disappointed. I was expecting a chocolate kiss, but the kisses and the gum had been together too long. Unfortunately, the gum made its impression on those kisses, so I didn't even bother to eat the other two.
The things that surround you will rub off on you. It's true. If you hang around someone long enough, you begin to act like them. You may find yourself sounding like them or using the same phrases they do. The more time you spend with them, the more you start to think like them. You may even begin to dress like them, wear your hair the same way, or shop at the same stores. Sometimes, when you keep yourself in the constant company of others, you begin to look like them. Maybe not physically, but your lifestyle does. And people who knew you might be surprised. They might say, "That girl still looks the same on the outside, but she's different. She's not the same person she used to be." And even though you've got the same wrapping, they can tell you're different. Someone has rubbed off on you. Someone has left a last impression on you, and no matter what the outside looks like, you can't cover up the change that has taken place.
It works for both the good and the bad, and if you spend your time with the Lord, it should make a difference. People should be able to see it. You can look the part, but people know. Because when they get a taste of you, when they're around you for any length of time, you start to rub off on them. You start to make a difference in their lives, and they can quickly tell if you're really made of what you say you are. For as easily as we're effect, we effect others. And the truth is, we have control over both of those things. You may not see if, you may not realize it, but you decide who changes your life, and you decide what kind of difference maker you'll be.
Chocolate kisses are best in their true, unaltered form. You, child of God, are, too. And the good thing is that if we've gotten a little bad rubbed off on us, the Lord's goodness can easily take care of that. He will cleanse you, purify you, and restore you to your true, unaltered form. So if you've been changed to look the part, be the part. Don't leave people surprised or guessing.
#968 - Because His goodness rubs off on us.
"Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:11
Comments
Post a Comment