Yummy!

O.K. Raise your hand if you own, or have at some point owned a toasted sandwich maker... Most of you? Not surprising, really. They are fairly inexpensive, and nice to have around, aren't they?

Well last year, I was given the gift of tounges on Soul Survivor. I had eagerly desired it, (how very holy of me) but once I had used it once, I just sort of stored it, knowing it was there, but never really finding the time to use it.


Spiritual gifts can be a lot like toasted sandwich makers really. You want it, you get it, you use it, you put in in the cupboard and use it about once a year. Some people get rid of their toasted sandwich makers, as some lose their spiritual gifts. Some don't want it in the first place, because they don't think they will use it, as some people do with their spiritual gifts. Some people don't get a toasted sanwich maker or a spiritual gift because they don't like Toasties, or God.

We have the choice as to whether we use our spiritual gifts or not. We aren't forced to, but how disappointed would you be if you gave somebody a gift, and six months, or even a year later, you saw it lying in a corner, or shoved out of sight into a cupboard, having been used very rarely? It would hurt.

At the same time it is difficult to keep a balance in life. Balancing reading the Bible, praying, evangelism and all the other day-to-day tasks we face.Balancing how much time you spend with friends, and how much time you spend cleaning. Balancing the right food groups, balancing accounts... the list seems endless.

But life shouldn't be this way. We shouldn't be spinning twelve plates on sticks, struggling to keep everything in order. We should give our problems to God. Good has planted a seed, which is your life. Just as plants need sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to grow, we need prayer, the Bible and Witness. Once we give it to God, he will slow everything down, and take hold of the sticks for us, transforming them into one plate which is our life, then hand it back to us when we are ready.

'Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his Glory and Grace.'

This challenged me yesterday. I was thinking about how busy I always seem to be, even when I don't seem to be doing anything. But when do I find the time to come to God, and look fully at the miracles he has worked in my life? If I'm too busy doing things for the world, of the world, such as household tasks and socialising, something is seriously wrong. Because the most important thing is what happens at the end of all this earthly stuff. Because we don't know when Jesus will return.

He will come like a thief in the night, and as the lightning flashes from the east to the west. Thats pretty quick, and doesn't give us much of a chance to say 'Ooh, hang on a second, I've not paid quite enough time to my glorious Creator lately, maybe I should spend a few minutes praying.' God gave me this life, and it's not mine. I should be giving all I can back to him.