You Infuse

You Infuse

(“Anyone who says, ‘I live in intimacy with Him,’ should walk the path Jesus walked.” 1 John 2:6)

Only You know the reservations,
the slow procrastination that paints me
static. I do not care about the dimensions (2D or
3D with glasses), I am sad about the stagnation.

Only You know I am like a painting at a museum.
A father takes his son to see “The Blue Boy” on the wall,
and the son takes his own son to see the same. I am the same,
unchanged. Beautiful in silky grey; warm in the background green,
I am mounted and unmoved.

You are a Master Artist, not a painter. I am
a new creation, not a painting. A father and a son
visit me apart and are not ashamed that I am unchanged.

Only You infuse my taciturn crawl with fragrant oil,
the perfume all nature wears unaware. In silence sometimes
I find
the tears I cried over misshapen mimicry are part
of the elixir, the tonic of Your love.

Being, I move. Trying, I lose every scented molecule
of Your affection. I have stocked an entire pantry with
colognes and sprays to disguise misguided efforts
to hammer my own painting tightly to the wall.

I would never lose the fragrance if I merely moved in
closer to
only You.

Hammers and Saws

Then (Jesus) said, ‘Are you also still without understanding?’” Matthew 15:16

The Pharisees had missed the point once again. They knew the “Law” so well, it was always easy to find offenders. This time those irreverent disciples of Jesus ate before washing their hands. Jesus, as He always did, confronts them with their own hypocrisy, pointing out their own disobedience to a far greater law.

Test Our Hearts

Test Our Hearts!

“The melting-pot is for silver and the hot fire is for gold, but the Lord tests hearts.” Proverbs 17:3

Each of us has been put on this earth to accomplish the most we can in this life. If we open our eyes we will become aware of the fact that all that comes our way is part of God’s refining process. Every pressure is an opportunity to learn to trust, every needy person that comes across our path is a chance to see Jesus face to face, and every success is granted by the mercy of the God who loves us beyond our understanding.

Cross-Examination

“Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about.” Psalm 139:23 (The Message)

There may be a script out there where a defendant in a crime drama can’t wait to get into the witness chair. And, there may even be a scene where he is begging to be cross-examined after his own attorney’s questions. Perhaps there are two kinds who would beg to be cross examined. Someone who is absolutely certain of his innocence and unafraid of courtroom shenanigans might say, “Come on, let the Prosecution do their best.”

Change your Clothes

Change Your Clothes

(“So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to; the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires.” Ephesians 4:22)

I am told that our sense of smell is the strongest of our five senses, and that it is the one most associated with memory. A few years ago I was sitting in a coffee shop, and a couple of ladies who were perhaps in their early 60s were sitting behind me. Within moments their perfume wafted into my booth and I was instantly transported to a memory of my grandmother. I am not sure if it is a law written in stone, but I think every woman over 60 wears the same perfume.