Blisters and Callouses

     I used to have a job installing fence. One thing you have to do a lot of in that job is digging holes, a lot of holes. I became really good friends with a set of post-hole diggers. I also developed a lot of blisters.

     My soft hands weren't used to all of that abuse. Those first few days were extremely painful. Over time, however, something happened; my hands developed callouses. The skin on my hands toughened up and lost sensitivity. The once painful blisters were now hardened callouses. I could work all day without discomfort.

     Sin works in much the same way. At first it is painful, maybe not physically, but it pains our conscience. Over time, if you continue in that sin, callouses will develop and the pain will go away. Your skin, your heart, becomes hardened to that sin. What once caused great regret becomes something you can do all of the time without a second thought.

     I haven't dug a post-hole in many years and my callouses are long gone. It would once again be a painful ordeal to dig a hole. The same thing can be true of spiritual callouses. If you stop the sin, the callouses will go away and your spirit's sensitivity will return. A hardened heart isn't a life sentence.

Too Busy

     The sisters were busy about the house doing those last minute things that always seem to come up just before company arrives. Maybe they were early, or maybe there was just too much work to finish it all; what ever happened the work wasn't done when their guests arrived. One of the sisters dropped what she was doing and busied herself with the guest. Her sister, still laboring in the kitchen, got a little indignant. She thought to herself, "How can she leave me to do all that needs to be done?"

     You probably recognize the story and you know that one of the guests was Jesus. You know that He praised the sister who fell at His feet in worship, but I want you to look at the other sister. She was busy with things that needed to be done, at least to human eyes. She wasn't off sorting her socks or re-alphabetizing her scroll collection, she was preparing the meal they were to eat later; important stuff, or so we think. The problem was she had become so busy with the work of the world that she was too busy for the Lord. The Lord of the universe had walked into her living room and she was too busy, with good work, to worship Him. The Lord was in her house but not in her heart.

     As Christians we can fall into the same trap. We can become too busy with the things that we think need doing. So busy that when the Lord walks into our lives we are too busy for Him. We tell Him to wait until we are finished, but too many of us never finish. Is Jesus waiting out in your living room?

The Game

     So often this life becomes a competition. We measure ourselves against the others around us. Whether it be with possessions, achievements, or even piety; we constantly try to measure up with others. As long as we have about as much stuff as the next guy, we consider ourselves economically well-off. As long as we are succeeding in our career pursuits, we are "on our way to the top." As long as we are there when the church doors are open we are "people after God's own heart." Are these really the standards we should be using?

     Jesus never owned much more than He was wearing. His last meal was served in a borrowed room.The people closest to Him fled in His time of greatest need. He was even buried in someone else's tomb. Jesus measured people by what was inside not what was outwardly visible.

     God measures success differently. God wants us to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. (Micah 6:8) He isn't going to check our bottom line or our church attendance, He is going to ask, "Did you take up your cross and follow me?"