Experience is Coming At Us

I remember the first year of my first job out of college. It was filled with some real goofs and those goofs taught me a lot. The majority of it was because of inexperience. Rolled into that inexperience was trying to establish respect in that particular workplace. This tended to be difficult because one person in particular knew me as a student a few years prior and had a difficult time giving me the respect coming in as a "college graduate."

The mistake did not cost me my job but it did teach me a lesson. It was definitely a rookie mistake. Experience is constantly coming at us. We can never get away from it. There is always another test that comes ahead of the lesson. That brings us to this week's quote...

Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue. ~ Henry James

Lint traps are supposed to catch all the small particles that comes out of your clothes. Similarly, we are going to be receiving those constant particles of experience as we go through life. One challenge is to know how to deal with the experiences. Also, how to process and learn from it.

Hopefully, most of the particles that have been caught in your "lint trap" for experience have been able to be utilized, not thrown away.

May we use our experiences in a positive way to reflect the Savior!

Now it's your turn...what broad or specific situation has an experience taught you?

Christmas Down and Dirty: Dirty Laundry

One of the many reasons I love to stay in a hotel is for the fresh, clean towels one can have each day. Part of the reason for that is that I really like a totally dry towel. Having any sort of moisture in a towel just takes away some of the feeling of cleanliness.

Does anyone share in my preference?

Each person starts off clean. There are some who feel that we start off sinful, but each person is responsible for their own sin (see Ezekiel 18:20, for example). Though we are born into a sinful world, but we are not born sinful.

With that, we start off clean, like the towel. Then, as soon as it is used, it is no longer clean. It is soiled and must be cleaned to be at the point it started. So too, you, were once clean and became dirty at the point when sin came into your life. One side point, I think that there is a distinguishable difference in "sin" and a "mistake" when it comes to a "point" when we become "dirty" - but that's for another time.

Sunday, we looked at Romans 3:23 & 6:23a and Colossians 2:13-15 discussing "Dirty Laundry" in our "Christmas Down and Dirty" holiday sermon series. Here are some ways of application to choose from to use this week...

• See the Past ~ Acknowledging where you've been in the past (or present for some) and realizing you were/are unworthy of being able to commune with God. Even if you have the luxury of having that past as wiped clean, acknowledging it is important to know where you have come or will come.
• Clean, Not Just Smelling Good ~ I remember the first few Febreeze commercials that talked about taking the odor out of clothes or other porous materials. Febreeze may take the odor out of clothes or upholstery, but does not cause it to be clean. Whether one is spraying Febreeze on your soul may make it smell better, but it doesn't make it clean. We must realize there is only one way to make ourselves smelling good and clean!
• Stay Clean! ~ When you have an item you greatly value, you will most likely want to keep it clean. Even if it may get dirty, you will want to make it clean, again. Again, if it becomes dirty another time, the point of the item is to stay clean. With that said, as our soul started off clean, then became dirty we should value our (presumed) cleanliness to keep it that way, even if it has been soiled once, twice, or a few times.

Our laundry is bound to become dirty. From spilling of food, dirt, or some other means. Our spiritual side became dirty, but the fact that we can now be clean. Thank goodness for Jesus to come "down" to a "dirty" earth for our dirty souls to become clean. What an awesome opportunity!

Now it's your turn...What do you appreciate most about Christ coming down to clean us up?