Which team?

Every time the Olympics come around, we see athletes from one country competing for another. Core identities surface in surprising ways.

Lately, I have been reading Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25). People arrive together before the King, bearing one of many national flags. But soon, they are individually reorganized into one of two teams: sheep or goats. The sheep have already been with Jesus, caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. They will continue on with Jesus. The goats ⏤ GOATs ⏤ never saw themselves as part of that team. And never will for all eternity.

Reckoning myself rescued

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. ⏤ Psalm 116:7

Death surrounds me: violence, hatred, dishonesty, pride, arrogance. Into this world I was born. And from its patterns I have been rescued. I will reckon myself an observer of this death, not its participant. I dwell in a consulate, an outpost of eternal life on the edges of Sheol. There’s a Welcome mat at the door.

“You Motivated Me”

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. — Col. 3:17

I was halfway into my first mile when a young women waved me down. I walked over and she said, “I see you running a lot. You motivated me. I’ve lost fifty pounds.”

What a nice surprise! (It wasn’t my intention.)

We might assume Paul is telling the Colossians to be strategic with what they say and do. But what if he’s just encouraging them to faithfully bear God’s name all the time? Just live this way. Naturally. Genuinely. And then watch what happens. They will experience more eternal life. And perhaps an onlooker will be motivated to encounter it too.