Seriously

In a recent post I told how our eight-year-old grandson, Jackson, and our seven-year-old granddaughter, Emma, were the Best Man and Maid of Honor at our son's recent wedding.

I had a conversation with both Jack and Emma about how special their jobs were and how honored they should be that they were chosen for them.  I also told them that they should take these jobs very seriously since their behavior would reflect on their Dad, step-mother and the rest of their family.

It was obvious in watching them that they took this conversation (and probably others from their Dad) very seriously indeed.

Jack walked down the aisle along side of his dad and took his place to the right of the groom.  He stood very solemnly.  He handed off the rings at the appropriate moment and the ceremony went off without a single hitch.

Emma excelled at her job as well.  She walked alone down a marble staircase -- the same one the bride would soon be walking down.  She gracefully took the turn to the aisle and walked down with more grace, poise and dignity  than many brides I have seen.

She too, stood solemnly, though usually with a grin from ear to ear, as the ceremony went on.  At the point the rings were to be exchanged, our daughter-in-law passed her bouquet to Emma, who was already holding her own, and Emma took it and held it without a single waver.

It was a beautiful moment created by four beautiful people whom I love very much. (Five if you include the Preacher, who just happens to be my husband.)



When we come to the point in our lives where we are ready to accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we should be just as serious about our lives as Christians as Jack and Emma were their roles in this wedding.  In fact, we should be more serious.

Our salvation is the freest gift ever given to us, although it cost the Lord a life of suffering we can't begin to imagine.  It may be free, but it isn't flippant.  If our lives are not dramatically different after coming to know the Lord, perhaps we treated the choice to accept Christ the same as the choice we make between a Coke and a Root Beer.

There were many times as a child I fell from my bed in fear of dying and going to hell and asked "Jesus to come into my heart."  What I was seeking was something to keep me from hell, not a Savior.  It was many years later I fell to my knees in humility and sorrow, this time admitting that there was nothing I could do to produce my salvation, and accepting Christ as my Savior and Lord.  Growing up with a preacher grandfather, I well knew the consequences of this choice.

When I got up off my knees, the whole world seemed different.  I was different.

I had been a rebellious, angry teenager until that moment 15176 days ago.  I wanted to rebel against every rule and defy every authority.  Once I accepted Christ as my Savior it was just the opposite.  I wanted to follow every rule and respect those in authority.  It wasn't that I was being a better person, it was that I had been created a new person.

When we become a Christian, we are created anew -- our  "old man," the inward part of us that the prophet Jeremiah described as "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:" (Jeremiah17:9), has been crucified with Christ, "that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Romans 6:6.)

We are indwelt by the Spirit of God and the desire of our heart is not to "serve sin," but to become "servants of righteousness."  We are told that we are now "the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24.)  This new man does not want to serve sin, in fact, the Apostle Paul tells us that we "delight in the law of God after the inward man." (Romans 7:22.)

Making the choice to believe these things are true of us is part of taking our salvation seriously.  We must realize that the Lord expects us to "delight in the law of God," because this is what we have be created to do.

Just as Jack and Emma stood solemnly at the altar with their Dad, we must take the choices which present us solemnly and seriously.  Our choices to delight in the law of God are some of the most important choices we make.

We must take them seriously because the Lord certainly does.

"Somewhere Safe"

My family is planting a garden this spring.  I should really say everyone in my family except me is planting a garden.  While I will reap the benefits, I am really not much of a participant.

In preparation for the garden, our daughter Emmie has been planting seeds for the seedlings.  She asked me for a envelope of red carrot seeds she gave me for Christmas.  I remember putting them away "somewhere safe," somewhere where I knew I could find them.

I looked in my jewelry box. I looked behind my jewelry box.  I looked under my jewelry box.   I looked in my bookcase. . .three times.  I could not put my hands on those seeds.

"One day, Emmie, you will know the frustration of putting something somewhere so you know you can find it, and then never being able to find it when you need it."  She just smiled in response.

She has no idea.

Finally, she came into the bedroom to help me look.  First, she walked over to my jewelry box. "I know I saw them around here the other day," she said as she opened the lid.  There, neatly tucked into the top of the jewelry box, were the seeds.  I had never looked in the top of the box.

The seeds were safe inside the lid all along.

As Christians, those who have placed their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we too are "somewhere safe."  The Bible says that we are "hid with Christ in God," (Colossians 3:3.)

Now that's safer than the top of the jewelry box!

We are hid. . .hid from anything that would try to harm us.  Not only that, we are hid with Christ.  Now if I am going to be hid anywhere from anything, the very safest place I can be is in Christ.  There is nothing that can touch me there.  But it is even better...we are hid with Christ in God.

We can rest assured that no matter what storms threaten our horizon, we are safe and secure, hidden with Christ in God.  We are safer than we can ever possibly imagine.

Hiding in Thee

by William O. Cushing

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;

So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be;

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.

Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest Rock of Ages,
I’m hiding in Thee.

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow’s lone hour,

In times when temptation casts o’er me its power;

In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.

Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest Rock of Ages,
I’m hiding in Thee.

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,

I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe;

How often, when trials like sea billows roll,

Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou rock of my soul.

Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest Rock of Ages,
I’m hiding in Thee.

The Everlasting Bride

Weddings are such special occasions where two families joining through the love and devotion of two people.

Everyone usually wears their best clothes and the Bride wears the most beautiful of all.

At the wedding we attended last week, the Bride was gorgeous in her long white dress and veil.  The  Groom was handsome as he lovingly stroked a tear off her cheek as she spoke her vows to him.  The Best Man was a dashing lad and the Maid of Honor beautiful as she smiled cheek to cheek throughout the entire ceremony. The Preacher stood in front of them all with a smile of joy on his face. I think this was the best looking wedding party I have ever seen.

I am not biased just because the Preacher was my husband and the Groom my son.  Nor was I biased because the Best Man was my eight-year-old grandson and the Maid of Honor my seven-year-old granddaughter.

Well, maybe a little.  And yes, I cried through the entire ceremony.



I think everyone loves to see a beautiful bride in her sparkling white dress.  Most brides love to wear their dresses and hate to take it off.  I know I did.

There will come a time for all of us who have put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus to be dressed as a bride.  One day we will wear the sparkling white robe of Christ's righteousness, given to us through His death and resurrection and our faith and trust in Him, and Him alone.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him; 

for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.  To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, 

clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." (Revelation 19:7,8.)

This fine linen we will wear will be one we will never remove, for it was not made of our own hands, nor of our own works, nor of the hands of others.  It was purchased on the cross of Calvary and freely given to us.  

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; 

that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."  

(I Corinthians 5:21.)

We will be His Bride for ever and ever and our joys with Him will be boundless.

As a Bride and Groom look forward to the joy of their wedding day, and their new life together, let us also look forward the the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  Let us remember each day that our most glorious, wonderful and beautiful days are yet ahead of us.

The Story of Two Coats

I want to tell you the story of two coats.  

They are very similar and yet they are different.

Both are blue.  Both are raincoats.  Both repel water very well.  Both have a hood to cover and protect the head.

Both are mine.

I bought the first one this time last year when we started walking together.  It didn't take many walks in our Mobile weather to know I needed a raincoat.  As most people do, I bought the raincoat with the specific purpose of keeping me dry when we walked.

As our walks grew longer, we began to talk of hiking as well as walking.  It was then I realized my raincoat would not be suitable for weather on a mountain.

The coat I purchased next was chosen for hiking in the rain.  It has features not found on the first coat, because the maker of the second coat made it specifically for hiking in the rain.  

It has zippers under the arms to aid in ventilation to prevent condensation caused from body heat.  It has a mesh liner to keep the coat off your skin if condensation does occur.  It also has an inside breast pocket  to keep important things, like my phone, safe and dry, but still easily accessible.  It even has little loops and snaps on the cuffs for attaching your gloves.

I tell you about these two coats because they cause me to think of our Christian life.  

During our lifetime of walking with the Lord we will doubtless face many trials, many challenges, many moments of difficulty. 

We have two choices during these moments of trouble and trial.  We can trust in our own abilities to manage and face the challenge before us, which, like my first coat, may offer some help, but will not face the challenge perfectly.  Our own efforts will always be found wanting.

Or we can trust the One who is made unto us everything we can ever need.

"But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" (1 Corinthians 1:30.)

Christ has not  only not left us alone to face these times,  He has entered into our very heart, as the Apostle says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."  He is made unto us everything we will ever need to meet every challenge of every day.  

We can have a good coat to weather the storms of our lives, or we can have the perfect "Coat" in the winds and waves of our lives.  Christ Himself is that perfect "Coat."  He alone knows the very depths of our heart and knows intimately every detail of every trouble we encounter.  

We need only to look unto the Author and Finisher of our faith, and to trust that He will be everything we need Him to be in every moment of every day as we trust Him by faith.  He has cast His very righteousness around, and indeed, in us so that we can walk faithfully with Him through every trial of every day.  

As the old hymn declares, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."