"All things came to be through him"

All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life,

and this life was the light of the human race;

the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:3-5

Having God in my life is good.  There is no doubt about this, but there are other good things in my life; my husband, my son, friendships, travels, my job and so many more.  Some of these don't seem to be related to God but these verses tell us otherwise.  These verses remind us that "All things came to be through Him".  Not only should we thank God for these gifts in our lives  but we should use these gifts to bring his light to the world.

These verses challenge me to think about how I can use what God has given me to bring life and light to the world.  I think about my job as a public school teacher.  I spend my time at work doing work that I love but is not outwardly serving God.

How does this work bring life and light to the world?

I can treat my students with love and respect.  I can great them with a smile and listen to their thoughts and ideas.  I can value them as a person and remind them that they can talk to me in times of trouble.  I can bring some light into their lives and teach them how to do the same in their lives.  I have to remember that as I go about my day I should be doing so much more than simply what is required in my contract.  My focus should be beyond common core and standards.  As a Christian my focus should be on bringing life and light to the world.  

Serving at Home

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’  Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’  And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’-Mt 25:34-40

This has always been a passage that touched me.  It has called me to go out and serve.  To volunteer at a soup kitchen, to visit the nursing home, to tutor struggling kids.  To go out and serve.  These are things that I enjoyed doing.  The people I served brought me joy and I felt as if I was doing God's work.  

But this service was not something that I did every day.  It was scheduled.  I served when it fit best into my schedule and when it worked with theirs.  When it was on the calendar, then I served and when I was done I went home and continued with my life.

All this has now changed.  As I sit here nursing my new baby I realize that he is a child of God.  He is "one of these" that Jesus was speaking about.  The last few weeks of my life have been completely filled with feeding, clothing and caring for this little baby.  This is service.  I am learning that there are times when I am not called to go out and serve but I am called to stay in and serve.  Right now I am called to serve the Lord by caring for my little baby.  This is not something that I have to fit into my schedule this is my life.  Over the past few weeks my life has changed dramatically.  The way that I serve the Lord has changed dramatically as well.