WBFJ Wednesday Word

Greetings, WBFJ friends! It’s a blessing to share this Wednesday Word with you! My daughter, Lexa, is only three years old, yet she teaches me “life lessons” almost every day.

Last week, I attended a ‘Candle Tea’ inside the single brother’s house at historic Old Salem. After a short introduction, our homeschool group was ushered into a room that hinted of ‘honey’. One of the ‘instructors’ explained about making those famous bee’s wax candles that are used by Moravian churches during seasonal Love Feasts. . From stringing the cotton wick to plugging the end of the metal candle mold, each and every step had a proper order. Once the hot wax was poured into the mold, it had to ‘set up’ or harden…but not too much. If left too long, it would be very difficult or even impossible to work the newly formed bee’s wax candles from their temporary home.

So it is with followers of Christ. At the point of conversion, we tend to be ‘on fire’ for Christ. Willing and able…even ‘pliable’ toward the Master candle maker. Yet, over time, Christians can become ineffective, even stuck in their candle mold. Unable to shine. Unable to be used for His Glory.

As we approach the celebration of Christmas, let us not become too busy and stressed that we snuff out our eternal light. May we rejoice at the real reason for the season…the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Useful Trivia: The world's richest 360 people have the same amount of money as the poorest 2.4 billion people. (Dr Hunter ‘Patch’ Adams)

This Thanksgiving, somewhere in the midst of cooking and shopping and visiting with family, I forgot to be thankful. It really bugged me at the end of the day as I drifted off into my Turkey-induced coma, when I realized that I hadn’t taken any time at all to sincerely thank God for all of the blessings He had sent my way. To be honest, I really wasn’t feeling particularly thankful. I knew in my head that I had plenty to say thank you for, but the deep sense of appreciation that should have been in my heart wasn’t there.

The next day, as I was organizing the house I asked the kids to round up every pair of shoes they could find so that I could sort through them and get rid of the ones that were too small or too worn-out to wear. After nearly half an hour of looking in closets, toy bins, under beds and among several laundry piles, my kids announced that they had collected all of the shoes, matched up the pairs they could find, and put them on the floor in the living room.

When I walked into the room to inspect their work, I could not believe my eyes. There on the floor was row after row of shoes, somewhere around 35 pairs. Immediately, my mind flashed to the kids I had met in Guatemala whose shoes were clearly way too small and full of holes. Then I remembered hearing about the kids in Africa who walk around on painfully injured or infected feet because they have no shoes at all. At that moment, my heart remembered just how much I really do have to be thankful for. It was like God had put together an object lesson right there for me on my living room floor.

Psalm 92:1-2 reminds us of the importance of thanksgiving, “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.”

The truth is, no matter how bad we may think we have it, we all have plenty to be thankful for. Sometimes, we just need God to point out for us the many ways he has blessed our lives so that our hearts can once again be filled with praise and thanksgiving.