So as the meeting progressed and it got later into the evening, we all got a little more talkative and the ideas, great, good, bad and ugly, began to flow. One person jokingly suggested we all get t-shirts so newcomers would know our purpose in the church. For instance, as an usher, my shirt would say "I Take U Money". Or as a greeter that hands out food, the shirt would say "I Make U Popcorn". Our praise band would have the greatest though "I Sing For U". Funny! But as we sat and joked, I began to think on it (scary, I know). It almost sounded like we were talking about a commercial. Can't you picture it? People walking around in these t-shirts that describe themselves. I don't know what they'd be selling, but I can picture it. So that made me wonder. If I had a t-shirt on describing myself, what would it say? I suppose I'd have to change it each day, as my moods and my heart changes. Would it say
- "I Love Me"?
- "I Love God"?
- "I Love Others"?
- "I Need Chocolate"?
- "I'm Going to Harm My Husband If He Leaves the Toilet Seat Up One More Time"?
What if we wore our hearts, what's truly in our hearts, on our shirts every day. I've heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but this is a little different. If you could describe what's in your heart, what would your shirt say? Fulfilled? Souled Out? Riding the Fence? Soul Winning? Empty? Searching? Longing? Lost? What would it say? I think it would be a scary thing for everyone around me to know what's truly in my heart sometimes. Don't you? Or are you one of those perfect people in the world?? Ha! But I have to tell you something...God knows what's in your heart all of the time. Great, good, bad and ugly. I know as my Savior, He will forgive all things bad and ugly when I confess them to Him (yes, He knows the bad and ugly already, but He still desires for us to tell Him about them...something cathartic about it too). And since God IS good, He IS Love, all the good in your heart is coming from Him anyway...but we can still thank Him for it.
Wearing your heart on your t-shirt would be scary...for everyone to know your true heart sometimes. But more often than not, your life tells the story of your heart anyway. Your countenance, your words, your actions, the way you CHOOSE to act and react and live your life, are all telling the story of your heart. So where is your heart? Are you good to go, happy in Christ and living it all souled out completely fulfilled in Him? Are you putting on the happy face but slowly and agonizingly wasting away inside your heart (then something is missing and we need to talk, so hit me up!)? Are you completely baffled by what I'm saying and know nothing about what truly should be at the center of your heart (my Jesus and yours), so that all things good will be in your heart and show in your life? (then, again, hit me up!)
So as I go back to thinking about being a GPS (all I can think of is having a red blinking light on my head!) I want to make sure that my own heart is where it needs to be, completely and wholly centered on Christ...or I will never be the GPS God intends for me to be...and if I'm livin' it souled out, I want to be EVERYTHING He intends me to be!
Thanks for this reminder to guard our hearts and to remember that Jesus should be showing through.
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