What Does It Take to Get the Prize?

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

Eric Carle is one of my favorite authors. I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar who eats too much, tries to do better and then seemingly dies but becomes a butterfly- a new creature. Isn’t The Very Busy Spider great in that the fly hangs around and hangs around until hanging around in the wrong place gets him caught in a web that costs him his life. Eric Carle has so many life lessons in such simple stories.

The other day, I was reading Pancakes, Pancakes to my class. It seemed the boy in the story was going to way too much trouble just for a pancake. When he asked his mom for a pancake for breakfast, she said he had to cut the wheat. When he took it to the mill, the miller had him help thresh the wheat. When he finally got home, he had to gather eggs, then milk the cow, then churn the butter. Then he had to tote in firewood. All this for one pancake? I think I would have gathered the eggs and fried a few. But this boy had something we all need. He had perseverance. No matter how hard the job or how long it took, he kept working until he was able to achieve the prize – a pancake! There was also an extra sweetness when he reached the goal. Mom had strawberry jam in the basement for the pancake.

Paul tells us that he presses toward the mark. He has a goal to reach so he can win the prize. He realizes that he has a high calling from God in Christ Jesus. We know God has a purpose for us to accomplish in this life. If not He would take us to heaven as soon as we were saved. He has a high calling in Christ Jesus for all of us. Paul’s life wasn’t easy. He was shipwrecked, chained, and beaten, but that didn’t stop Paul from preaching the gospel. He had that quality of perseverance. He took his calling seriously. No matter what happened he would achieve the goal and win the prize of heavenly rewards.

I have lots of unfinished stuff in my life. I have crochet projects that need finishing, paintings in progress, stories that stop in the middle, and clothes that need folding just to name a few. I wonder how often have I given up on something God intended me to finish for His glory? What am I missing out on? If I can’t seem to get through the little things how will I handle the major problems of sickness, or finance, or death? With God’s help we will persevere.

Got any stories of God’s help in persevering? Won’t you leave a comment?

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Hearts

…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.  I Samuel 16:7

I thought surely Eric Carle had lost his mind. Here was a book titled Hello, Red Fox with a green fox on the cover, all written and illustrated by Eric Carle. When I turned to the first page I saw a giant red heart with a tiny black dot. There was a caption at the bottom labeled Important. I thought I should read it. The instructions said stare at the black dot and count to 10 then look at the black dot on the next page. Okay, so I tried it. A faint green image of the heart appeared on the opposite white page. Then the story of a little green frog’s birthday party began. Each animal invited was not the color it appeared if you took the time to stare 10 seconds at the black dot on the animal then, look at the opposite white page. I thought, this is really cool, Eric. Maybe you are on to something!

Life is a lot like Eric Carle’s story. We think we see people. They make a first impression. How often we look at people and make a judgment based on what they appear to be; happy, kind, sad, mean, tough, etc. without taking the time to look a little deeper. We don’t know the real person on first glance. Jesus took the time to see the real person. He had compassion on the people even when they were cruel and unloving. He healed the untouchable lepers. He  brought the message of salvation to the Samaritan woman. He healed the crippled hand on the Sabbath, though it was "against the law". Jesus put others first. He cared about people.

Father, help me to look at the heart as you do and not the outward appearance. Help me to demonstrate a caring, compassionate spirit. Lord, show me how to make a difference in the hearts and lives of others. In Jesus name. Amen.