Looking Good At The Last Minute

 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives. II Peter 3:10

A few years ago, we had a female parakeet, Clover.  She was rather nippy, and earned herself the nickname, “Bulldog.”  In the first six months we had her, we never saw her preen her feathers or heard her sing.  Our daughters tried to teach her how to talk and tried to train her to rest on them, but to no avail.

Then, our youngest daughter brought home a male parakeet.  “Star” was his name.  He was a beautiful yellow color and seemed rather personable, allowing the girls to hold him and train him.

When we added Star to the cage something amazing happened.  Clover began preening herself. An hour later she was still preening herself.  Two hours later she was still going at it and I was concerned when we noted three large feathers on the floor of the cage, amidst enough small feathers to stuff a Baby Pillow.

My husband jokingly said, “Clover must be so stressed, I’ve let myself go, and now there’s a boy bird here.”

How often do we act grumpy, getting through the day, nipping at whatever annoys us?  We might have great intentions to “someday” pull ourselves together and act as Christ would want us to, but that day isn’t today.  Because, well, I just don’t feel like it.

But Scripture tells us, Jesus will return “Like a thief in the night.”  We don’t know when He’s returning.  We only know He will.  That promise should be enough to spur us each into action.

Like Clover, we need to use the gifts God gave us, today. Clover possessed a beautiful singing voice, but we never heard it until Star arrived.  Clover is now friendlier, allowing some family members to hold her, even riding around on my husband’s shoulders.  And who can call Star back into his cage after he’s been exercising?  Clover.

All in all, she is really a nice bird.  But she hid it before.

Are we waiting for Jesus to arrive for us to act and speak and use our gifts for Him?  We need to choose our words and actions carefully.  We need to act on His calling using the gifts He gave us, today.

Because, like Clover experienced, you may not know when Someone really important is coming.  And, we need to be prepared.

Reflections:

1) Have I asked Jesus to rule my heart?

2) Do I allow Him to filter my words, actions and attitude?

3) What gifts has God given me?

4) What do I discern as His plan for me?  If unsure, or even if you think you know, please spend some time praying about this.  Ask someone who knows you well what he would possibly identify for you.

5) Discern how you are being led to use that gift, and pray about it and act today.  Record your thoughts in a journal or in your Bible.

Thanks for reading!  Please return by Monday, Oct 6 for the next post.