Here's Cole's "illustrative" wish list that he put on our refrigerator.
This morning, before I even turned on my computer to start reading the “Walking in the Word” scriptures, I was thinking about how Tim and I are going shopping tonight. I was going through my mental list and checking it twice on the “things” I “want” to get the kids for Christmas. Then, I felt God guiding me to start my reading in 2 Peter first. My eyes widened, I took a gulp, and I giggled as I said to God, “Oh, I see why you led me here first.”
Here, you go ahead and read 2 Peter 1:3-11 for yourself. I’ll continue in a moment:
God Has Given Us Everything We Need
3 Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, 4 through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With these gifts you can share in being like God. And so you will escape the ruin that comes to people in the world because of the evil things they want.
5 Because you have these blessings, do all you can to add to your life these things: to your faith add goodness; to your goodness add knowledge; 6 to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add patience; to your patience add devotion to God; 7 to your devotion add kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to this kindness add love. 8 If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who don’t grow in these blessings are blind. They cannot see clearly what they have. They have forgotten that they were cleansed from their past sins.
10 My brothers and sisters, God called you and chose you to be his. Do your best to live in a way that shows you really are God’s called and chosen people. If you do all this, you will never fall. 11 And you will be given a very great welcome into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a kingdom that never ends.
Okay, I’m sure God wasn’t telling me to adjust my kids’ Christmas list to read:
Hunter, Holly, and Cole’s Christmas List:
- Goodness
- Knowledge
- Self-control
- Patience
- Devotion to God
- Kindness
- Love
But hey, that sounds pretty good to me.
Really…..God is reminding me that as my mind was on the “things” of this world, I need to put my mind on Him and striving to be more like Him. Colossians 3:2 says, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Another example popped into my mind when I read those verses. Holly told me, just yesterday, that one of her friend’s Facebook status read, “I need a girlfriend.” She commented and said, “You want a girlfriend.”
How true is this of any stage in our lives? We want, we want, we want!!!! Enough!
Sit back, count your blessings, and remember that God has given us and will supply us with everything we really need. Philippians 4:19 reminds us, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
So in this season of busyness of getting people things they “want”, take a moment, or two or three or …., and be grateful for all the things we have.
Does your Christmas list look anything like the one above? I’m thinking we should all have those qualities on our list and not only check them off, but be mindful of them daily throughout the entire year.
Blessings to you.
November 29, “Walking in the Word”
