Nov
1
2016
Signs
Posted in Faith 2 Comments
I went to a private elementary school.
My school did not have a cafeteria.
Lunch was eaten at our desk each day.
As soon as you were finished your lunch, you could go out for recess.
Each student was expected to bring a small towel so their desktop would be protected.
It was interesting to see what kind of towels each student brought.
Some people had two or three paper towels to lay on their desk.
Some people had old dish towels that tended to hang over the edge.
When I was in the younger grades, my mother was creative.
My towel would represent the season.
The towel would have leaves or pumpkins in the fall.
It would have snowmen or Christmas trees in the winter.
The towel made me smile and it also made me think of home.
We were expected to fold up our towels when we were finished our lunch.
The towel was not to remain on the desk since we had schoolwork to do.
I folded my towel, put it back in my lunch box, and brought it home each day.
I thought about the desktop towels when I noticed all the yard signs during this election cycle.
Every major intersection seems to be covered with signs.
One sign competes with another.
The intersections are not biased towards one party or another; both sides are represented.
There are so many signs that they are not even seen after a while.
There are so many signs that it actually seems like overkill and has an opposite effect.
I often wonder who will come and remove all of those signs.
Usually, the signs are gone soon after the election but some stragglers remain.
As I drive through neighborhoods, I see signs for both candidates.
I see some handwritten signs that are a bit more forceful than others.
I see people placing their signs as close as they possibly can to their neighbor’s sign.
I have heard stories of people having their signs stolen.
It is an interesting political landscape.
You can tell a lot about people by the signs they display.
I thought about that as I was driving.
I saw bumper sticker after bumper sticker pertaining to one cause after another.
Proud parent stickers were prominent.
Leftover bumper stickers from previous elections seem outdated now.
Some bumper stickers are intended to have a definite shock value.
Some bumper stickers are simply something about which the car owner cares deeply.
I thought of my own mini van.
The names of two colleges and one law school are prominently displayed on my back window.
I have a magnet on the back of my car that says, READ.
I have another magnet that is from a place we have frequently vacationed.
Friends know that I am in a particular store because they see those telltale signs.
They always make a point to tell me that they saw my car in the parking lot.
That is good or bad depending on your perspective.
My car is recognized because of the signs.
We have a need to make something our own.
We desire to put our own mark on something to make it more personal.
It is not that we want to stand out as much as we want to feel at home.
We desire, without even realizing it, to say even in a small way, I was here.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a visible sign that showed that we belonged to Christ?
A sign that we could see and point to and say, that person is a believer in the Lord Jesus.
A sign that would mark us as His.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all believers in the Lord Jesus had a cross stamped across their foreheads?
A sign that makes us His own.
A sign that sets us apart.
A sign that is recognizable.
A sign that distinguishes us as the people of God.
We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did…Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him…And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commanded us. (1 John 2:3-6,15; 3:23)
There are signs that mark us as a true believer.
When we KNOW God, we OBEY His commands.
When we BELIEVE in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, we LOVE.
If we claim to live in Him, we must LIVE as Jesus did; we must walk as He walked.
BELIEVE, KNOW, OBEY, LOVE, and LIVE.
This is the progression of faith that carries over into our actions.
This is how we are set apart.
This is how others will know that we belong to the Lord Jesus.
One sign stands out from all the rest.
One is the most excellent way. (1 Corinthians 13:1)
LOVE.
Authentic LOVE is the distinguishing mark that identifies us as a believer in the Lord Jesus.
We don’t need lawn signs.
We don’t need bumper stickers.
We need to BELIEVE, KNOW, and OBEY in order to LOVE and LIVE as Jesus did.
Those are the signs of our faith.
Those are the things that are prominently displayed when we belong to Him.
Those are the signs that point others to Christ.
Those are the marks of our faith.
The greatest of all the signs is LOVE; authentic, Christlike LOVE.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we drove down the roads and saw signs with the words “believe”, “know”, “obey”, “love” and “live” instead of the signs we have been seeing this fall? Like any of these politicians could really change our lives that much! We “vote” for Jesus by the love we show for others. Thanks for this post. Love the video too!
Sue,
Wouldn’t that be wonderful? With the absence of physical signs sticking out of the ground, God chooses to use us. We are His signs.
Gina