Take a moment with me and think of a gift that God has given one of your children, or given you. Maybe they can play an instrument, draw, sing, dance, act or play a sport better than most. You are doing what you can to help them develop their gift. I can assume that you are taking them to lessons/practices, encouraging them and possibly even signing them up for a camp or other exciting opportunity. We are doing the same and excited to see how God is going to use these gifts in our children to glorify Him.
Please take another moment and imagine that your child now has been granted the opportunity to spend a day with the expert in their field. Our oldest daughter would love to spend a day learning from Misty May, our next daughter from Yo-Yo Ma, while our youngest daughter would faint at the possibility to work with Gabby Douglas. I am sure you get the idea. Your child has the chance to spend a day with the expert.
You mark the calendar, you save the fee and you are ready for the special day. Your child meets the expert, spends some time with them and shows them what they can do. How do you think you and/or your child might react if the expert, after watching/listening to your child, simply looked at your child and said "that is great?" "That is great, you are doing just fine. There really is no reason for you to strive to get better."
I know that I would be disappointed. I would be frustrated that we had come to the event expecting to learn, improve, grow....and nothing happened. I might even think it was a waste of our time. Why? Because I know that there is always something to learn. I know that we can always get better at a craft or activity we are working at, we wanted to become more like the expert. There is truly always something that we can learn.
I want to switch gears now. Let us stop thinking of a tangible talent or gift, and now begin to consider our faith. What if instead of focusing on the talent, we looked a little closer at our relationship with Christ. Is our faith something that we are looking to develop and grow?
What if I tell you that you are invited to spend time with an expert in the faith field? This expert has agreed to meet with you and help you improve your faith walk. Would you mark your calendar? Would you be anxious with anticipation? Well, you HAVE been invited! Christ is the expert and He is available to meet with you each and everyday!
In conversations I have been having lately, it seems to me that many of us are looking at our quiet time with a negative slant. We think it is time we could use for something more important. I encourage you to look at it more like you are Hanging with the Expert. It is true that Christ loves you just as you are, but it is also true that He loves you too much to leave you that way. He like any expert will help you to see which areas of you life might need a little adjusting. He can help open your eyes to areas of your heart that need to be softened, or areas of sin that need to be cut out. What a privilege for us to be able to meet daily with such a loving and all knowing Savior! Your faith is a gift, and I pray that you will be excited about meeting with Him and developing your gift.
Enjoy your time hanging with the expert, He truly loves you too much to leave you exactly how you are!
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