Sister2Sister from Celeste
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
~Romans 8:37
Good God blessed morning my dear sister!
Every time I sit down to write to you, I practice the same routine. I open my laptop, bring up my ‘LovingJesus’ account, click on my drive and open a new document page. The label in the title box always starts out the same; “#x WIP”, with the “x” eventually replaced by the file number I assign to it. Can you guess what WIP means? It’s my abbreviation for ‘Work In Progress’.
It occurred to me today as I typed that, that we, as followers of Jesus, are all Works In Progress too!
My preparation routine helps me to stay organized and on track. In fact, having routines helps us all to be organized or stay on track for most of the activities of our lives. Routines become habits and habits become ingrained in our way of relating or responding to our circumstances.
Routines that become habits often become behaviors that we do automatically; like cleaning the house, watching tv or driving to work. We even settle into habits of attitudes such as gratefulness or grumpiness. (Dare I go on?) Hopefully, most of our routines are beneficial to a full and blessed life of walking with the Lord. However, sometimes we fall into habits that are not so beneficial and, when we stop to think about it, are just plain a waste of precious life and time.
There’s a song on the radio these days that I think expresses what I’m thinking perfectly:
“What are we waiting for?
Why are we wasting all the time like someone's making more?” *
It seems that I’ve been on a roll with quoting lyrics to you lately! Music has a compelling way of reaching our inner beings; affecting our moods, reflecting our emotions, forming our attitudes. Music is an immersive experience, whether we’re consciously listening to it or not. It’s like immersing yourself in water when taking a bath or shower (maybe that’s why so many people sing in the shower!) Think about it, how do you feel after singing songs and hymns to the Lord? I’ll bet your mood is lighter, the day shines brighter and you feel like you can conquer anything!
Of course music can have other effects too; we’ve experienced the persuasive power of happy little jingles when it’s time to go shopping!! We've witnessed the destructive force of music when it is used to sow seeds of rebellion, anger, hatred and lies. That’s the power of music!
Last Sunday, Pastor Curtis threw out a challenge to the parents of the children and young adults; do you remember what that challenge is? First, he had challenged his youth & young adult groups to listen to nothing but Gospel music for a WEEK! Then, I thought it very prudent of him to issue the same challenge to the parents! Whoa! This may be quite a change in habit for many of us!
Therefore, beloved sister, may we all consider our routines this week! Remember that we are all ‘Works in Progress” for Jesus! We can be overcomers with Him by our side! Let’s have the courage to drop those habits that are not fruitful, and take this challenge from Pastor Curtis as an opportunity to form new and better habits!
What are we waiting for?
All blessings and honor belong to Him! (that’s another song!)
With love, your sister, Celeste
*What Are We Waiting For? ~ for King & Country