Your actions do matter, especially this time of year when the holidays are looming ahead of us. Lines will be longer in storesand sales clerks will be frazzled by grumpy customers. I am always shocked by the way people treat my son who is a floor manager in a nationwide chain. And, he says, the sad thing is many of them that are rude, demanding and derogatory are wearing crosses around their necks or some religious T-shirt.
Recall the parable of the sower in Matthew 13? Your everyday life is the mission field – literally. You never know whose heart you may be called upon to scatter seeds of Christianity. It can be ground that is fully prepared to receive — fertile and plowed up, for our seeds of faith. Or it is rocky, dry and parched. No matter. Cast your seeds of Christian charity, love and patience with everyone you encounter be it family, coworker, stranger or friend.
Sure, we can all have a bad day, but that doesn’t mean we need to take it out on others. Instead, take it to the Lord. Call a prayer friend and ask them to pray over you. Roll up your car windows and sing your favorite hymn or Christian song at the top of your lungs. Call on the name of Jesus. Picture wadding up your frustration and giving it to our Savoir to toss into the sea. Whatever it takes to release it from you.
Before you enter the marketplace, or work, or the school yard, pray for God to use you to shine His light on someone else. Plant that tiny seed of servitude in your attitude and then watch how God uses it. He might just let you witness it blossom before your eyes. Or, it may not be for you to know the results. Either way, you can rest assured that you have been obedient and that He is at work sowing the seeds from your life into the ground of humanity. What a garden there will be in Heaven!
