February is a strange month, from the spelling of the word, to the ‘exact 4 week’ length. When we think of February the first thing that probably comes to mind is Valentine’s Day, of course. The retail business pushes cards, candy and flowers. Advertisements infer to us that is how you show love! If you love someone, you better get them a card and a box of chocolates. Hallmark says you better buy them a card if you love them!
I saw a poster the other day that said, “Inhale love. Exhale gratitude.” While this statement expresses a nice sentiment the way it is written, it could be tweaked a little to help it apply to the Christian. I propose, “Inhale Christ – Exhale Love”. In this month where we tout love and buy people chocolates to show that love, maybe we could realize that spreading the Gospel is a way to show and spread the love that matters on an eternal scale!
In the opening verse of Genesis 12 the Lord tells Abraham, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.” Abraham went, and God blessed. But this isn’t the whole story. For that you need to read the rest of the sentence. Here’s how it continues: “I will bless you,” God says to Abraham, “and you will be a blessing. . . . and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). God’s promise to bless Abraham is accompanied by a further explanation. His blessing of Abraham is just the first step in a much bigger plan to extend that blessing through Abraham to all the earth’s peoples.
In the same way God blesses us to be a blessing, God fills us with His love so that we can pour out that love on others. We inhale Christ and exhale love! The love of Jesus. The truth of the Gospel. We should tell others of Jesus. Then the next logical thing to do is invite them to Church In The Acres to learn more. That is giving love of eternal significance. Helping others find Jesus is a great way to exhale love.
The last thing Jesus did on earth was to tell His disciples to go into all the world and make new disciples. Inhale Christ, exhale love! That’s how we can show love this month.
It’s good to be your pastor! In God’s service till the last fish is caught, <><
Pastor Chris
