Books in Our Lives

Matthew 20:28  That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served - and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage."

The speaker at a large church in Chicago came to the front of the room and began talking about the impacts that affect how we live our lives.  Lined up across the front of the stage were three platforms.  On each platform was a closed book..  As he spoke, he opened the first book and called it “our past”.  He tore out a few pages and tucked those pages in the book on the center platform called, “our present”.

So often we grow up by taking some of the worse or best times of our lives and carrying them on to our present lives.  It can shape us to make decisions that affect those around us.  Little things that drive Lynnette crazy come from events in my past that I have carried into the present.  Most of those I really want to forget, but they just creep back.

Soon the speaker in this church takes pages again out of our past and places them into the third book, called “our future”.  He noted that he completely by-passed the present.

As we are growing up we are sometimes are reminded of our failures.  Maybe we were not too athletic in sports.  Therefore when we become adults, we try to live our past though our children and push them to be the best at sports.   

Yet so often we take pages from our past and place them in the future.  We try to be what we could not be as a child.  As the speaker noted,  “We make up whatever we need to say or do to “prove” we did not fail as a child.” 

You see for years as a young man, I was told about my failures as a child.  I can still recall my father saying that I was never going to be successful in life.  I can still recall, “You don’t have enough sense to pound sand down a rat hole”.  Or “Your about as smart as a hill of beans.”  Therefore a part of me pushed to change the past, prove him wrong, and make a better future so the past could be forgotten.  Still a work in process.

Jesus is one of the great parts of the past that belongs in our present life books, because He is to only one who can give us a great future book.  His life and death is one of hope and grace that takes every failure of our past and throws those pages away. 

We don’t need to keep the pages of our past or present because we have some great pages in our future book.  Many times it takes a conscious effort to give the Lord our past, but the new pages of your book includes eternal life and a close relationship with the Savior of the world.

A Carrot, An Egg, and a Cup of Herbal Tea

Several years ago, I read an email and thought how the content is one of those parables Jesus might have taught. It’s a message that can help us deal with whatever life throws our way.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as soon as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed a herbal tea bags. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the tea out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and tea," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the tea. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich herbal flavors. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ...boiling water. But each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground tea in the bag was unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or herbal tea?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, became hardened and stiff which impacts your friends, and family? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or are you like the tea bag? The tea actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain and frustration. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the herbal tea, when things are at their worst, you get better and look to the Lord to help change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, the Lord’s help elevates you to another level. How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or herbal tea? 

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. By living your life in a daily relationship with the Lord you’ll be the one who is smiling when this life is over.

For me the tea is in the boiling water and changing the situation every minute.   

Can’t you smell the tea aroma around you?