Keeping Up Appearances

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

                          “Be careful of the words you speak, because you may get to eat them!”

We have allowed society to dictate how we look and act.  We build ourselves up by either comparing our bodies or actions on other people.  Sometimes by emulating those people to improve our appearances; or by tearing them down with criticism of their looks and actions in what we think will make us more presentable. 

The concerns about appearances are starting at an early age.  My eleven year old daughter has physically developed very quickly, as have many of the girls in her sixth grade class.  One of the girls she goes to church with is in her homeroom.  The other day my daughter came home and asked, “Mama, do you think I have a cute figure?”  “Yes,” I replied, “But remember that it is what is on the inside that counts.”  She said, “Well, my scf (so called friend) told me that I had an ugly figure.”  “I don’t think that she is as much of a Christian as she says she is.”  Amen.

There is a cute/ism that is circulating that says, “Going to church doesn’t make someone a Christian, any more than standing in the garage makes you a car!” People that are physically beautiful sometimes don’t demonstrate that same characteristic from the inside.  My mother used to have a saying, “Pretty Is, as Pretty Does!”   Sometimes we cast a shadow that doesn’t match up with our appearances.  If the maxim of, you are what you eat is true, then the same truth applies to do you practice what you preach?  Ouch!  Maybe I should remove that amen up there!

Or maybe I too should watch my mouth, because you can never take back an unkind word.

There are many preachers who have influenced my life, and I’m not sure if I have expressed it to them, but hopefully their joy was in feeding the flock and not in gathering gratitude.  One such preacher did a sermon with a visual using a lemon.  He rolled that lemon on the pulpit, held up a sharp knife, and asked, “What will I get if I cut this lemon in half?”  Of course the congregation replied, “Lemon juice!”  “That would be correct,” he said,” But what if I had taken a hypodermic needle and inserted India ink?”  Oh yes, things are not always what they appear.  What are you when you are “squeezed?”

Society places so much focus on outward appearances that a lot of times we do not look into the heart of a person.  What is our inward and outward response to the homeless, the destitute, ethnic groups, and other individuals that don’t fit our idea of what a person should look like, be like, or act like?  We have a tendency to use ourselves as a plumb line. It is easy to look great against someone we might think is inferior to us…..So how would we measure up to God’s plumb line? 

How many of us are on diets to improve our outward appearance?  Do you count your calories, read instructions, and keep charts with a constant watch on your weight making sure you don’t stray off course.  Not everyone is on the same diet.  But we need to have enough to eat to keep up functioning, to keep our energy up, and stay focused.  Dear Lord, let me be so hungry for your knowledge and wisdom that I stick with a daily diet of your word.

Dear Lord I want to be a

“FAT, FULL FIGURED, CHRISTIAN!”

The best way to maintain my desired spiritual weight is to devour His Word!  We need to be assured that we have the current updates.  We need to check His Word as often as we do Facebook, texts, or our e-mail!  My Bible is on my I-Phone and I keep my grocery list on there as well.  After writing this segment, I’m troubled that I don’t maintain my spiritual grocery lists as well as I do the physical.

Dear Lord, thank you for preachers and teachers.  Thank you for caring enough to feed me with your word, and fill me with your spirit.  Dear Lord, make me so hungry for your word that I don’t want to leave your bountiful table, and keep me on a steadfast diet of your rich words of knowledge and wisdom.  Let me always remain diligent in making sure that your spirit comes out of me when I am squeezed!  And, Lord, help me keep my mouth shut…..unless I’m eating!

Candid Conversations With Carolyn Lee

FILL MY CUP LORD

Like the woman at the well I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy;
And then I heard my Savior speaking:
"Draw from my well that never shall run dry".

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more--
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

There are millions in this world who are craving
The pleasures earthly things afford;
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more--
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

So, my brother, if the things this world gave you
Leave hungers that won't pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you,
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray:

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more--
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!