A Devotional Thought for May, 2009
Category: Pastor's Column“If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater: for this is the testimony that He has testified of his son.” (I John 5:9)
About three weeks ago I moved some end tables around in the living room of the parsonage. A week later it looked like I moved them just the day before. So I fluffed up the carpet spots with my hands. A couple of days later I vacuumed over the imprints. The next day the spots looked like I moved the end tables that morning. So . . . I moved the tables back to their original spots. You guessed it . . . I now have another set of imprints.
Our lives can be compared to these kinds of imprints left in the carpet. We leave imprints on other lives whether we intend to or not. We leave imprints that can be seen as both positive and negative. Such can be an intimidating thought.
A number of years ago I led a training event for Sunday School teachers. During the session these volunteers were asked to remember the Sunday School teachers they had in the past. The question was asked: how were they a positive influence to you in your Christian walk? We then talked about how each of us is to be a model for Christ and how each of us are given opportunities to make an impression on someone else for Christ. Afterwards, a “new” Sunday School teacher came to me and said “I’m not teaching to be a role model for anyone. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past and I know that I am not perfect. I’m not sure that I should be teaching.”
The Christian life is not about being perfect. There is only One who has ever been perfect (“without sin”). The Christian life is about following Christ, serving Christ, and striving to be like Christ. Striving to be like Jesus Christ includes accepting his forgiveness, forgiving others, and living in that forgiveness. Jesus said, “If you forgive others of their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). He also said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (John 20:23). The way in which we forgive others, how we forgive ourselves, and how we try to correct our sins tells the world that we are seeking to makc Christ our Lord.
That Sunday School teacher who was nervous about teaching became an excellent teacher of high school youth. Youth related and learned from this teacher. She was a good listener and deciphered well what they said. I saw in her the power of God’s forgiveness and how to turn around past failures and sins. More so, students were imprinted by the joy of being a Christian and the sincere concern the teacher had for them.
Imprints on the carpet left by furniture will eventually disappear. However, many loving Christians we have known will forever influence each of us. Everyday we too are given the opportunity to leave Christ’s imprint on other’s lives. Amen!
Pastor Sam
May 2009
