Blessed

It was one of those "good" workouts this morning. The ache in the hip was minimal. The time grinding away on the cardio machines was okay (Thank heaven for an iPod with workout music and ESPN on the TV's!). I could do without the core exercises, but with the hip issues influencing my back, etc. ... gotta do them.

I'm walking out of the gym thinking about how blessed I am. I work at a great church. I have a wonderful wife and two terrific sons. Most of the "stuff" in my life is paid for and debt is minimal. I feel the rain on my head and it reminds me that I can get out of this anytime I want.

Then, it hit me. There's some brother or sister in Christ in some far-off country. They can probably live for a year on what I make in a week. Their possessions are few and their luxuries are almost non-existent. But, he too, may have looked up to the heavens and thought how blessed he was by the God Most High.

That thought humbles me. I can't be sure that I would praise God if I was in that position. Some would say, "If you grew up in that environment, you'd never know the difference." But, since I grew up in an environment of relative wealth, I do know the difference.

John Wesley once noted that he didn't expect to see his contemporary, George Whitefield, in heaven. Wesley and Whitefield were at opposite ends of the theological spectrum. But Wesley went on to note, "I won't see him because he will be so close to the Father while I'll be at the back of the crowds."

I suspect that those who are at the head table at that great banquet in heaven will be the most obscure people from the history of the earth. But, in heaven, their reputation has been touted for eternity.

1 Kings 17-18

Half-empty

As I was leaving the gym after a very ordinary workout, I found myself smiling. The reason ... because I was in a room full of people who had no smiles. It didn't matter if it was the treadmill, the elliptical trainer or the free weights. There was not one grin or even a smirk.

This was a huge contrast for me because I tend to be a "glass half-empty" type of person. I don't tend to write about the rosy, cheery aspects of life or my faith. I find I'm more comfortable grinding on about those rigorous aspects of my inner and outer life.

I guess I was smiling because I could do it. It always seems to strike me somewhere in the workout that it is a privilege to do it. There will be a time when I can no longer grind it out. A workout may consist of a shuffling lap around some nurse's station. If so, I want to have the same attitude that I have now ... that I can do it.

1 Kings 15-16

'Toonville

The last couple days seem like I've been in a really bad cartoon. Sunday was okay, but I kept dropping things and colliding with stuff at church. I was pretty wiped out so I just listened as folks talked after the service. I could feel these replies bubble up, but I squashed them down because I wasn't sure my mouth and brain were working together. To top it all off, I've been hyper-sensitive to criticism. I'm having trouble dodging or warding off those comments that come from people who have no real agenda ... just the things said at the wrong place and the wrong time. They start sticking to my soul and it takes a long time to dislodge them.

1 Kings 13:33 (NASB) "After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places."

This is not the most encouraging of passages in the Bible, but it points out a human condition that has plagued us through the ages. We don't learn from our mistakes. Today, people declare that if God would only "show" Himself that they would change. The biblical record shows that even when God does show up ... humanity brushes it aside. The only real change comes with repentance and a surrender of our heart, mind, and will to Jesus Christ. And that ... is so hard to do when we live in a culture that screams at us that we are capable and masters of our own fate.

1 Kings 13-14