that's my kid.

Warning: some of this material is a little more mature in nature. It's not intended to shock. But, nevertheless, you may want to screen it before you allow younger eyes to see.

A little while back I tweeted:

Sometimes I'm struck by all of the really good, strategic, common sense, reasonable reasons... NOT to obey.

That's been a theme in my life with God as of late.  I'm seeing myself spend time on a lot of good things, godly things even... at the exclusion of doing some of the more uncomfortable things that God calls all of us to do.

Maybe that doesn't resonate with you.  Maybe you don't think it's a good idea to elevate one good thing over another.  Maybe you think that really all good things are on the same level, and it's up to us to do the best we can.  

Well, Jesus would have disagreed with you: here, and here.

I think that most of our lives with God are lived in this tension between good things: 

• the tension between what is natural and what is supernatural  
• the tension between what I can do for God and what I can only do with God  
• the tension between where I am strong and where He is strong in me  
• the tension between doing what is right and doing what is transformational

Let me put it differently.  If I were to make a list of what I spend most of my time doing, it'd probably look a little something like this:

• I show up to my job and work hard.
• I am present at home and love my family.
• I go to church on the weekends.
• I do the things that I enjoy: hunting, watching sports, reading, conversations with friends.
• I pay the mortgage, taxes, and take care of what possessions God has entrusted to me

And that list could go on.  Most of you probably have a similar list.

But if I were to complete that list, I'd be forced to admit that some items are notably absent, or at least, not present in my life to the same degree:

• Spending my time, talent, and treasure on the "least of these"
• Loving my enemies
• Creating adequate space in my life to love God with all of my heart
• Being attentive enough to the Holy Spirit to follow him on some divinely inspired interruptions over the course of my day

Which leads me to a story.

Over the past few weeks, I've been bombarded with images that God has used to slip past the defenses of my relatively good, stable, safe, responsible life to create a "holy wound" within me.  Some of the images were haunting.  Others had more political overtones.  All made me uncomfortable - uncomfortable in a way that prompted me to act.

"Things should not be this way," I thought.  Somehow, someway, God connected me to that pain - the pain that must be in his heart when he sees his creation rebel, whether in sins of comission, or sins of omission. And me? I've just been idly standing by, doing mostly good things, while failing to do what was necessary.  I had to do something about that. God was compelling me to do something about that.

And then Pastor John preached this message.  More good food for thought.

Which leads me to my car ride from lunch back to the office today.

I had stopped at a gas station on University Ave. - the Casey's there at Rownd, to be exact.  My wife and I had switched cars today, because one of her tires was low on air.  So I pulled into the lot next to the compressor, filled the tire with air, hopped back in, and was quickly on my way again.

Then, I saw them.

He was holding her hand.  She was maybe up to his waist.  Maybe.

He was smoking a cigar.  She wasn't wearing a hat.  Cold front came through last night.

They were in the median, walking in the opposite direction that I was headed as I and several other drivers were zooming past them.

On any other day, I probably go right past them - just like you probably would.

But then, this holy thought - not my own, but God's - pops into my head:

That's your kid.

That's your kid. Love your enemies.

That's your kid. Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

That's your kid. Love your neighbor as yourself.

That's my kid.  Disobedience is not an option when it's my kid.  Disobedience is not an option when the Voice is so near and so clear.  In that moment, I feared more of what it would mean to not obey than how awkward or inconvenient it might be to have the two of them in my car for some period of time.

So I pulled a u-turn, said a prayer, came up behind them, passed them, and then pulled into that same Casey's where I had been just a few minutes earlier.  And wouldn't you know it, they walked past me and went inside.

So I got out, followed them in, grabbed a pop, and hung around to wait for my opportunity.  

As I spied on them, it became readily apparent that he loved her, and she loved him.  She playfully ran around the store, asking for everything from pop to candy, while he corraled her and began to make his way to the counter.

I beat him there.  After paying for my bottle of pop, I turned around and said:

"I noticed you walking.  Can I give you a ride anywhere?"

"No, thanks.  We just have a couple of blocks left.  It's some time that we get to spend together."

"Great.  Merry Christmas."

And that was that.  I walked out to my car, and saw him walk out with his daughter, this time in his arms, into the neighborhood behind the gas station.

The result, I'm sure, was much more transformational for me than it was for them.  God got a little bit more of my heart today.  

I pray that He does the same with you this week, and in so doing, becomes more glorious in and through your life.  He is With Us.

Comments

[Dan Lincoln]

Thank you, Tink. Needed that.

[Jesse Tink]

You bet, Dan. Great to hear from you. Merry Christmas.

[Derek Kimball]

'From doing what is right to what is transformational.' I like that. Reminds me that being a Christian is about more than a set of do's and don'ts. Way to be open to the Spirit's prompting today. Keep it flowin big man!

[Jesse Tink]

Will do, Mr. Kimball. Appreciate it.