Change of a lifetime

We celebrated Easter a little over a week ago. Since then, my devotions seem to focus on new life. The new life we have as believers. Resurrected life.

Back in December, at the beginning of what turned out to be a record setting winter, I wrote about Holes. In a blast to the past, I'm sharing a photo from that blog post here:

In case you're wondering, these are bulbs. Tulip bulbs. Planted in December.

And today, here is that same soil:

Yep. Hard to believe those brown, egg-shaped "rocks" turned into budding tulips that will burst forth with vibrant color in a few days. There is no comparison between bulb and flower.

Earthly body. Resurrected body. Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension give us the promise of eternal life. There's no way to know what change will occur, but we are promised a miraculous transformation. While mysterious, the change is guaranteed as explained in I Corinthians 15:35-38, here from The Message:

"Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different."

Plant the seed of God in your heart. Water the seed with the proclamation, "Jesus is my Savior." The flourishing plant is guaranteed in the season to come.

Happy Spring!

Dirty Dustmop

Saturdays are house cleaning days. Tub cleaning. Bathroom scrubbing. Vacuuming. Laundry. Dusting.

Ah, dusting. I despise dusting. I detest dusting. I plain and simply, hate dusting.

I blame my mom.

When I was a kid, my sisters and I were assigned weekly chores. My chore, among others was - you guessed it - dusting. Now that I think back to those days, it really couldn't have been that big of a deal. We had a family room, living room and dining room, but I really don't remember much about the actual chore of dusting. I guess I developed the loathing due to the fact that dusting was my weekly "have to do."

Fast forward to present day. Since dusting is the dreaded chore, I've tried various methods. I've tried the polish and wipe approach. That is way too time consuming. I've tried the dry Swiffer cloth with its dust-grabbing fibers. This works well but involves too much bending and the texture of the cloth bugs me. My current method involves a microfiber hand held dust mop. This method is simple and quick and much to my liking.


There is one draw back. The instructions supplied with my duster recommend cleaning the removable duster in soapy water. In my opinion, having to wash the duster after use kinda defeats the purpose of "quick and easy." Unfortunately, this fact alone makes it extremely easy for me to disregard the washing step. And, as you can guess, this is NOT a smart idea.

And so it was, that this past Saturday, I lost the war on dust. I pushed the limits and I knew it. I thought, or maybe hoped, I could get one more dusting from my visibly dirty duster. Nada. Nope. Didn't happen. By the time I reached my loft railing, my duster was actually spreading dust instead of picking it up. My loathing, my hastiness, and my lack of following directions did me in.



Sin is my life's dust. It builds up in the blink of an eye. And boy, does it need cleaning. I know for a fact that my sin demands more than a weekly cleaning. A daily scrubbing won't even suffice. I'm sure my sin probably needs several cleanings per hour!

The thing is: I'm not able to wipe myself clean. Confessing my sin to my husband, or a friend, won't take my sin away. Nope. Only one method will make me squeaky clean. I need to go to the One. The One who took the humongous weight of my sin, your sin; in fact the sin of the entire world to ensure my cleanliness.

Jesus. My Savior.

Spit on. Cursed at. Beaten. Tortured. Kicked. Dragged. Nailed, yes nailed to a cross. Crucified. For me. A wretch. Unworthy.

As we enter into Holy Week, the words of Isaiah 53 bring me to my knees in thanksgiving:

2-6 "The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
    a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
    nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.."

Jesus took my dirt. He wipes away even the deepest yuck. And I'm clean...oh I'm clean.

Lighten the load...

Today was an incredible day with temperatures flirting the sixty degree mark for the first time in four and a half months! One walk through campus bore testament to the weather.

Bare legs.

T-shirts.

Shorts.

Flip flops.

Students, faculty and staff alike shed jackets, boots and sweaters.

The burden of winter was lifted and the entire campus felt free. Alive. Rejoicing in the gift of new life.

All it took was a change of clothing, or rather a shedding of clothes to feel a new freedom.

A change in wardrobe starts with opening up the closet of our lives.

Colossians 3 (here from the Message):

"You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete...From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it."

Not sure how to change clothes?

Acts 2:38-39

Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”

I'm celebrating and changing my wardrobe. How about you?