Outside appearances

Around here the color red and the breed of dogs called bulldogs are very popular. We live about 1.5 hours from the University of Georgia whose colors are red and black and mascot is an English Bulldog. Pretty much year round you can find red shirts sporting a bulldog picture but during the fall ALL you see is red and bulldog everything. Red flags with bulldogs, red slippers with bulldogs, red shirts with bulldogs....from toilet covers (yes, I did say that) to door mats. The bulldog fans are RED hot. And it is not only about the merchandise. The fans talk about the games all week long. The newspapers are filled with articles on the bulldogs. And don't try to plan anything with a loyal bulldgog fan on a game weekend unless it is going to the game because they won't even think of doing or being anywhere except at the game or watching it in from in front of the television. All this loyality, enthusiasum, and team spirit is displayed for all to see. The hats, the shirts, the jewerly, the flags waving from front porches....all points to a deep-rooted love for their beloved bulldogs.

As christians how much of a RED hot fan of Christ are we? Well, I am sure that the answer is very hot but does the outward actions and outside appearance show to others that you feel the same team spirit as the Georgia Bulldog fans? Do we wear the clothes of joy like the bulldog fans wear their red shirts (smiling while we wait forever in the check-out line)?! Do we offer to others Christ's patience and kindness the same way Georgia fans are quick to give the scores of their last win (assuring the waitress that took forever to bring you more tea that you understand how busy she is)?! Are we as quick to offer forgiveness for a mistake as quickly as our fans forgive the one time the team losses?!

Let me tell you about a very small incident that happened over the Christmas holidays. The Thursday before Christmas I was in Macy's. They had just been putting up signs all over the place.."take an additional 50% off". People were all over these racks and since I was by myself I was not distracted and could hear alot of the conversations going on around me. There was talk that the price scanners were not working right...that the clerks were over charging for the items...that the store should be made to give them these items at the cost they thought they should be receiving. The masses were not very happy (joy)..the talk was certainly not very kind..and certainly not very forgiving to the poor clerks who just wanted the christmas shopping to be over.

I picked up a couple of items, took them to the register, and waited patiently for the clerk to get to me. She was a small woman, very pleasant looking and seemed to be in her early thirties. As I approached the counter I quietly told her that by the racks around the corner there seemed to be alot of confusion. I told her that I was not in a hurry and all I wanted was for her to scan my items and tell me if they were indeed the fantastic price I thought they were. I also told her that she would have no argument from me whatever the prices were. She looked up at me, gave me a faint smile and her eyes whelled up with tears. She said that people had been so impatient, grumpy, and nasty to her that she was physically sick to her stomach. She felt like she was going to throw up at any minute...couldn't stand the pressure...didn't understand why people were so nasty with her. I made a feeble attempt at defending those stressed out, impatient, rude women but more focused on letting her know that she could look busy with me and take as long as she liked. I was not in a hurry. By this time the tears were streaming down her face. I know this sounds stupid but I reached in my purse and dug out a special chocolate candy that I had hidden away (never know when a girl is going to need a piece of chocolate). I offered her the chocolate the whole time explaining how my big sister buys them for us in California and sends them to us for every occasion...how everytime I look in my purse and see one of the candies I think of big sis and it makes me feel close to her (all this talk just to lighten the mood). She unwrapped her candy, popped it into her mouth, smiled and said it was the best candy she had ever had. She also told me she felt honored that she was able to partake of one of the special chocolates. The tears went away and a smile came upon her face. She scanned my clothes and yes, I had some great buys. I purchased the items..the whole time this transformed woman remarking to me how she had never been treated so kindly. She finally asked me how is was that I was so patient and cheerful. This was a good time to share with her that I had a God I loved very, very much and it was through his grace that at this hectic time of year I could be patient, kind, joyful. She said she believed in God and would try to rely on him and call on him more often. As I took my bag, I told her that I would pray for her that day and she promised she would try that herself.

And that what I want for my life. I want what others see in me to stir up awe and wonder..I want my strength on the outside to be explained by what goes on in private, on the inside between God and me. I want people to know I am red hot for Christ. I don't want to miss a chances to spread his love to others. I want the people around me to know that no matter how hard the game, no matter how good the opponent that the winning score will alway be for Jesus. I want my shirt to be the colors of redemption and grace...my flag to fly high with forgiveness...my mascot to be love and kindness.

This is what Hezekiah did throughtout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in the obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And he prospered. 1 Chronicles 31:20-21