Up And Down...Up And Down

I love me some Yo Yo's.

Use to be pretty good with one. I could do all the standard "YO" tricks such as walk the dog, rock the cradle, Around the World and Loop the loop. I use to practice for hours trying to perfect my somewhat limited talent with the yo yo. I saved up my money and bought the best yo yo on the market.....the Duncan Imperial. That thing could hesitate (spin at the end of the string for those not familiar with the yo yo terminology) for ever, which only benefited you if you were trying to do these difficult tricks.

Life is like a yo yo ( sounds like a subtle shift into Forrest Gump theology doesn't it?).

It has ups and downs as well as its fair share of hesitations.
God has called us to master life by following him.

He gives us the ability to weather the ups and downs. Just like the yo yo, the more we practice (Matthew 7:24) the better we get at hearing and carrying out the directives of God.

Ephesians 4:14 speaks of this: As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.

We no longer live life like the yo yo. We are no longer to be tossed about by what we hear and what we see. We find stability and a solid place to stand on in Christ Jesus. He is the very place where all of life I experience begins. He is, not only the giver of life, but the one who sustains life. Real life that is found in relationship with Him. Christ has given us a place for this attitude and behavior to grow....the church.

Verse 11 - 13 read:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to armature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Did you catch that? He has given us teachers and leaders that are to equip us for works of service. In these works, we are a part of something larger than ourselves. We are a part of the body of Christ. The goal of the works and our fellowship is that we move into a unity of faith whereby we carry out the work of the Kingdom of God. What is that work? First and foremost it is worship unto God with every part of our being. Our very lives become worship unto Him. Our daily dealings and business become worship unto Him. The way I interact with people should bring glory to God and cause others to see Him in me.

No matter where I find myself on the string (remember we were talking about yo yo's), Christ is there to guide and empower me to always bounce back.

Go forth and "yo".

God on you....

mb