7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
Love, love, love these verses. Love that my Savior came to this earth so that I may not only have life but have it to the FULL!! He doesn't want my life to feel purposeless. He doesn't want my life to lack joy in the day to day. He wants me to embrace this life and to have it to the full now that I am His.
We have been studying Genesis in my Bible Study this year and it has been A-mazing. Recently, we have been examining the life of Joseph. How he was sold into slavery even though he had done nothing wrong. How he turned down his master's wife's request to sleep with her and that landed him in jail, and even in jail he interpreted a dream for a cup-bearer to pharaoh and that cup-bearer promptly forgot about Joseph after he was released from prison. Joseph had EVERY reason to whine, to complain, to believe in God but NOT have life to the fullest because he doubted God. He had every reason to do these things but he did not. Instead he obeyed God, His commands, trusted that God knew the plans He had for Him and then trusted God with his future. There is no record of whining, complaining, or bitterness from Joseph.
Just unwavering trust in the Lord.
Life in the fullest.
I can't even make it through a long winter without throwing in some complaints about the weather. Last month I felt myself begin to get angry and tired of the weather. WHEN will spring get here? Seriously, haven't we had enough winter yet? I just need to get outside in the sun. Etc, etc, etc, etc.
Even in my "small" complaints I am not trusting the Lord and having life to the fullest. I am concentrating on what I think is bad and not enjoying the life God has for me RIGHT NOW.
In Luke 16 it states 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Lord...Help me to do well with "little" and train me to be trusted with "much".
So I have been embracing life this past month in an area that I had previously been whining and complaining and bitter about....the snowy weather. It is my "little" that I had not been very good with. I had been self-focused and negative.
It was time for a change of heart. So we woke up to 6 inches today and a 2 hour late start and I literally said "whooo-hoooo" Why not right. Bring on the snow at this point....when will we ever have snow like this again in April? Time to embrace it for what it is and have a heart that is good and pleasing to Lord even in these "little" things.
So we will make slushies in April...just like we did last year. Only last year we had to use an ice machine. This year we have Mother Nature's help.....
And it's April....let's place on that playset of ours.
My kids enjoyed my change of heart too. We laughed a lot outside and kept yelling "yay - it snowed!!" (much to the shock of our neighbors I think)
Grab hold of the life that is truly life. Living for Jesus with a heart that is pleasing to Him....even in the little things.
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