Chips Off the Old Block

Michael Jackson sang “Man in the Mirror”. It spoke of the person we need to be to make the world a better place. The chorus went like this:

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
I’m asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer.
If you want to make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change”.

I’d like to take that message even further. The truth is when we look into the mirror, we should see how God sees us and how much He loves us. He says:

1. I love you.
2. I will never leave you or forsake you.
3. You are a rare and beautiful treasure. One of my one-of-a-kind originals.
4. I will never leave you or forsake you.
5. I forgive you.
6. You are mine and I am yours.
7. You have a special calling. I’ll help you navigate it.
8. Every day I cheer for you. I believe in you. You and I have got this!
9. When you call out my name, I am as close as the air you breathe.
10. I’m looking forward to eternity together.

God lavishes His goodness, love, grace, compassion, and mercy on us, by the shovel-fulls. He is a shoveler. He didn’t meet us half-way; He came all the way to us from heaven. He relentlessly pursues us. And, when we know that’s true, it will be shown in how we interact with others. The question is……what do we do with all that love; all that grace; all that mercy; all that goodness in return?

Are we dispensing shovel-fulls or spoon-fuls to others around us? How can we say to others, “I’ll think about forgiving you” or “I’ll think about helping you” when we have been so forgiven and helped with shovel-fulls.

If we consider the outrageous, indescribable love of God to us, then how could we give less than our best to others? In truth, it should be a dump-truck full of blessings to others if, in fact, we desire to be like Him Who gives and gives to us FAR more than we could ever ask or think.

The song, “He Giveth More Grace” was written by Anne Flint, who by the age of 6 had lost both her parents. By her teens she had developed arthritis and soon after lost the use of her legs. Bedridden, she was covered with sores and lost control of her hands and many of her bodily functions. She wrote the song when suffering, in pain, and loss.

Anne Flint could have succumbed to despair, despondency, and hopelessness. But she wrote the message of faith and hope in Christ with the realization that when we have no strength, it is the moment when, like in a tag team wrestling match, we tap out and let God do the fighting for us. I sing songs like this as a prayer. “God please give me the faith of people like Anne Flint, and give me the wisdom to seek Your strength and not mine.”

“He Giveth More Grace” by Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932)
He giveth more grace as the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as the labors increase,
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

Chorus:
“His Love has no limit; His grace has no measure.
His power has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.”

May we be “chips off the old block” and be lovers and givers like our Father!