It was a very hot, but dark and dreary morning here in Chicago. There was something interesting about my 45 minute morning commute. I noticed that no one was smiling. There wasn't a single person with a smile on their face. When I was getting off the subway, and about to take the escalator up to street level, I made eye contact with someone, and let them board the escalator before me. Finally, they smiled at me! I was relieved! For a minute I thought that I was in that new movie "The Invasion" starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, and Malin Akerman. (It's a movie where an epidemic alters the behavior and personality of all human beings except for Kidman.)
After seeing my first smile of the morning, I decided that I wanted to see more, so I began going out of my way to smile at everyone I encountered. Waiting for the bus, on the bus, walking into the office, I smiled at everyone. A lot of people turned their frowns upside down and smiled! It was really neat to see! That just goes to show how important the little things are!
With my commute out of the way, I got to thinking about bigger things. Life, and our purpose here. It's a big wrestling match inside my mind. I want to commit every aspect of my life to Christ, and to helping others. To do that though, I must give up a lot of my "stuff". I'm not wealthy by any means, but I have been blessed with some great successes that have allowed me to buy cars, a condo, and a lot of nice things to fill the condo.
It's just tough telling someone who is homeless that I can't help them with a few dollars, when I know that I CAN, but I think of myself first. Jesus didn't do that. Jesus gave His ALL for me. Jesus could have said, "Well Joe, I am going to let Pilate have my hand, but not my life. That way you know I am the Son of God, but Joe, I just enjoy my life too much to let them kill me in order to save you. I'm really affraid of thorns, needles and such, so I am not going to do the whole crown of thorns thing either. Sorry Joe."
I know it sounds a little silly, but is it really OK for us to say, "Yeah, we are supposed to love and help our brothers and sisters, but we deserve to have a good life ourselves"? It's the hardest thing in the world to think about though, because if you don't have anything, then you can't provide for your own family. It's a toughie. I am always going to try to give as much as I can, but I don't know that it will ever live up to His standards.
I am so incredibly blessed to know a God that pours down a storm filled with challenges and blessings that just soak me from head to toe with His glory and majesty. As hard as anything may get, remember that every day is a blessing from God! Thank Him for everything!!
Have a big day tomorrow!
Joe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Reminds me of that Coca Cola commercial and that movie Paying it Forward. LOL.
With helping the homeless, I hesitate to give money out because a lot of the time they are in homeless society groups who split up to get lots of money when they don't need it. Other times they use it for beer. They never go to the local shelter. I try to buy them food, but that's all I can do.
About providing for family and such, I think that if you do what God wishes you to do He will bless and provide for you. I've seen miracles come from such situations.
Post a Comment