I had the most awesome grandmother. She taught me how to take care of a home. How to cook. To “sprinkle” clothes and iron them. How to plant and appreciate beautiful flowers. Although, cooking is not my favorite activity. She tried to create in me an interest for that talent.
I recall standing on a wooden stool at about six years old making an angel food cake from scratch. She put one of her bib aprons on me. It reached way beyond my feet but made me feel so special. Her little kitchen looked like a bomb had dropped there when I got finished. We didn’t have electric mixers then. You can imagine what a six-year-old did with a rotary hand mixer! She put that cake in the oven and turned and took my face in her hands, kissed my nose and told me that was going to be the best angel food cake ever baked!! I believed her! Memory fails me as to whether it was. I have no doubt that with her guidance it was wonderful. The memory has stayed with me because of her love for me and unending patience.
She followed the recommendation of Paul in her daily walk. She was just full of the love of Christ and his forgiveness. That love and forgiveness just spilled out of her moment to moment to anyone she came in contact with.
That is what is required of believers. Is it easy? I would say probably difficult more times than not. It is something we must strive to do. Jesus loved the unlovely, those who were different from him, he approached them in love and made himself available to them, right where they were.
We have the opportunity daily to approach others with the love of Jesus. We may find that we are required to go the extra mile some days. It is humbling to think about the walk Jesus took for us to reach the cross. It was love that walked him there, so that we would have the opportunity to believe in him, be forgiven and have the promise of eternal life. The sacrifice that will be ours to imitate his love will be minuscule in comparison to his act of love for us.
Sometimes, all we need to do to start that love flowing outward is smile. For some reason, that opens the heart door a bit and gets the ball rolling.
Scripture For Today:
Ephesians 5:1-2
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (NKJV)
Prayer For Today:
Hello Father! We praise you for sending Jesus to rescue us from a fallen world. We pray for the ability to love others as he loves us. Help us leave a calling card for Jesus everywhere we go. In Jesus’ name. Amen.