Live out the Gospel in everyday life

The month of June reminds me days gone by when my children were little. I worked at finding activities to fill their days. Today I look back and realize that some of those most meaningful events were unplanned and free.

Annie, John Scott and Buffy were in grade school when we lived on the edge of town. A large vacant field surrounded our house and that was the scene of an exciting and entertaining event which would unfold on the corner of our street.

link Judy Brandon

Columnist

One summer day we got up to find a fire engine and other trucks with several firemen on our street corner. The fire hose was hooked up to the fire hydrant, valve turned on with water shooting far out into the field. The four of us would watch as the water from the fire hose blasted high into the air soaking the vacant field near our home. The force of the thrust was so mighty, and we could feel the damp mist on our faces as the viewed the event from our front yard. The once dry field was drenched with water. It was an exhilarating sight!

That same summer I noticed an advertisement on TV featuring a little watering hose that could be connected to the kitchen sink and then taken all over the house to water house plants. With a valve on the end of the hose, one could easily water house plants without a dripping water mess.

I ordered that little $9.99 hose because I had so many houseplants. I was excited because gone were the days of hauling water around the house and making trips back and forth to the sink to water my dry plants. I attached my little hose to the sink facet, walked all over the house carrying the hose, watering as I went. Valve on… valve off. No water gushed out, no sloshing on the floor. The water just dribbled and bubbled out and did enough just to get my plants watered. The hose was not more than an inch in diameter, but it was sufficient to water my houseplants.

Then I made the connection: the same water source was behind the fire hydrant on the corner that spewed out the high pressure water that shot out over the field for hundreds of feet was the same water source that was behind my little kitchen hose that dribbled out the water to water my hose plants. The amount of water that came out depended on the size of the hose.

In my own mind I realized a parallel spiritual truth. Some people claim they are Christians and profess to love God. They are connected to the Source but because of unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, and other sins in their lives, they suffocate and dampen the spirit. As a result, the love of God only dribbles out of them in little amounts, if it does at all.

On the other hand there are those people who acknowledge to God that they have frailties and faults yet they give their attitudes, feelings, aspirations and hopes and dreams to Christ and as a result, that submission and obedience results in a gushing of the love of God through them. They then live out the gospel in their everyday lives.

Jesus instructed the people on the side of the mountain, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

We must be connected to the Source - which is Jesus Christ. We must obediently and willingly give all of ourselves, open ourselves up to Him to be used for His purposes, to bless others and to show others the meaning of the Gospel. In that way, we do not choke off the message of the Gospel, the flow of God’s love, to the dry and thirsty world.

Judy Brandon is a Clovis resident. Contact her at:

[email protected]