Devotion – September 23 – “You are a Lion!”
Good morning everyone, I missed you. The two week vacation was good, but it is good to get home and rest once again in the community, and community of faith, that I have come to love so much – thank you all for being you!
I want to re-share a modern parable from last Sunday’s sermon:
Once there was a little lion who lived in the jungle. He was born into a noble family of lions, but when he was still a baby, a blinding storm came and separated him from his family. When the little lion woke up the next morning, he found himself all alone and he began to wander through the jungle, looking for his family and a home.
He came across a flock of sheep and said, “This must be my family,” and he went over and joined them. Because he was so small, none of the sheep felt threatened and let him walk among them. This little lion watched how the sheep acted and then he imitated them. He leaned down and ate a couple mouthfuls of grass and taught himself to say, “Baa.”
Then one day everything changed. While the flock was grazing in the meadow, a loud, earthshaking roar came out of the jungle. The sheep immediately ran in fear. But something told the little lion not to run. Something fascinated him about the sound. Then, stepping out of the jungle came a gigantic, noble lion. The lion let out another thunderous roar and spoke to the little lion. “What in the world do you think you’re doing. Why are you wandering around with those sheep and eating grass? And why would you ever say ‘Baa’? You look ridiculous, and you sound ridiculous.”
“But I’m supposed to eat grass and say ‘Baa,’” said the little lion. “All sheep do.”
“You are not a sheep!” roared the big lion. “Look at yourself. Come over hear and look at yourself in this pool of water.”
The little lion timidly edged over to the pool of water where the big lion was standing. He stood at its edge and gazed into the water. To his utter amazement he saw, he was not a woolly sheep, but a small lion.
From that moment on, the little lion became a real lion. He learned to roar and hunt and tame the jungle with the best of the lions. He learned to stand on his own feet, not simply to follow the leader of the flock. He discovered who he was and who he was meant to be.
One of my deep passions for all of you (and myself) is to live out your lives to the fullest; to live in a way that makes an eternal difference in the world and fulfills God’s call for you in your life. Why? Because there is no better way that you can live life! There is no other way to find true peace, true hope, and true joy.
The world gives us so many imitations of these gifts, and too often we fall prey to what they offer us. But in the end we will find only disappointment and that deep soul clenching feeling that we were meant for more.
Today live your life fully in Christ – see Christ around you, see Christ in each encounter, see Christ in each person you meet. See Christ within yourself, loving you like the perfect parent does his child. – That’s life!
~ God bless, Dan