The change of change

Something happened this last week that has flipped my normal routine upside down. Our mom and pop gas station that we have traded fuel at for the last 13 years has closed down. Actually, my mom bought there when I was a kid and Will has been there probably 16 years. I know this sounds a little much but I was devastated. There is never a trip made to Tomball that I don’t stop by, fill up, grab a hand full of honey candy and sign my name to an index card and when I have my kids we wave through the window and they sign for me. It’s small town and makes me happy. Now it’s closed. I fell the exact same way when I look across the street and Klein’s grocery is closed. I always did my Holiday grocery shopping there and loved to see their shiny trees and bells that hung from the light poles. Needless to say, I hate change. As I signed our last check for them yesterday something accrued to me. What if the apostles were the same way? I’m sure that Peter, Andrew, James and John probably set out every day with the same goal in mind. They probably used the same bait or traveled to the same location and spent the day doing what they knew best, they fished. When the day was done I’m sure they took their catch and finished out the day doing the exact thing they did the day before. Then one day a man walks up to them and says, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Maybe they were so tired of doing the same thing over and over that the adventure of the unknown is what lead them to go,  or maybe it was just something about this man that they couldn’t turn down. Either way, they followed. There is a popular Christian song by Chris Tomlin that really speaks to me. The chorus says this, “Where you go I’ll go, where you stay I’ll stay, when you move I’ll move… I will follow you. Who you love I’ll love, how you serve I’ll serve, if this life I lose I will follow you. I love this song, but more than that I love how it motivates me. I know that if I follow Jesus it is going to require change (tired of my talking about change yet?) and as long as He is my leader I want to be willing to follow. After I gave my heart to Jesus I defiantly made changes, good changes…big changes. But what God is showing me now is the importance of change and how it is going to be a part of my every day routine. I spent so much of my life changing for people or things that cared nothing about me. Now I have Jesus who gave His life for me, who was tortured to wear the redemption of my sins, and yet I hesitate. Someone once spoke these harsh words to me, “Why are you so worried about looking like a fool for Jesus when you have acted a fool for Satan time and time again.” I have never forgotten it. I think we get the whole “I’m a good person” mentality and believe that it is enough. I’m sorry to say but the bible doesn’t stop there. Matthew 5:14-16 says, You are the light of the world. A city on the hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. – What if for just one week we prayed this scripture daily and were willing to be open in letting God use us. Would we be willing to follow? If you decide to do this I would love to hear what happens because I promise you if you are willing He will move you, I’ll share too. One last thing that I wanted us to do together is this. Post a comment that simple says what you are thankful for. At Thanksgiving we each had a number on the bottom of our plates. If you had 1.) you were to list 3 things that you were thankful for in 2011, 2.) was share 1 thing God had blessed you with this year, 3.) was tell someone in the room why you were thankful for them and 4.) was tell how you blessed someone else this year. It was so awesome! I think we forget, life gets hard and we sometimes think that there isn’t much to be thankful for. Of course all we have to do is watch the news or listen to missionaries to realize how much we really have. Here is mine.

Kristy Watts

I am thankful for this journey I call life. The good and the bad, the tears and the laughter and the healing hand of God. I am thankful for His grace and His mercy and His faithfulness.

As I type this I am listening to a gospel choir sing this song. Wish you could hear it too.

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.