Good



“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrew 13:16 (NIV)

There was a blackout one night. When the lights went out, I fumbled to the closet where we keep the candles for nights like this ... I lit four of them. I was turning to leave with the large candle in my hand when I heard a voice, "Now, hold it right there."

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm a candle."

I lifted up the candle to take a closer look. There was a tiny face in the wax. "Don't take me out of here! I'm not ready," the candle explained with pleading eyes. "I need more preparation."

I couldn't believe my ears. "More preparation?"

"Yeah, I've decided I need to research this job of light-giving so I won't go out and make a bunch of mistakes. You'd be surprised how distorted the glow of an untrained candle can be..."

"All right then," I said. "You're not the only candle on the shelf. I'll blow you out and take the others!"

But right then I heard other voices, "We aren't going either!"

I turned to the other candles, "You are candles and your job is to light dark places!"

"Well, that may be what you think," said the first one, "You may think we have to go, but I'm busy ... I'm meditating on the importance of light. It's really enlightening."

A short, fat, purple candle with plump cheeks spoke up. "I'm waiting to get my life together, I'm not stable enough."

The last candle had a female voice, very pleasant to the ear. "I'd like to help, "she explained, "but lighting the darkness is not my gift ... I'm a singer. I sing to other candles to encourage them to burn more brightly."

She began a rendition of "This Little Light of Mine." The other three joined in, filling the closet with singing.

I took a step back and considered the absurdity of it all. Four perfectly healthy candles singing to each other about light but refusing to come out of the closet.

Now you may have figured out that the story I wrote above did not actually happen to me, but I think the message that I am trying to convey is clear. We are sent people on a mission to do the will of God and as Christians, imitators of Christ; we should be living as He lived. The verse preceding verse 16 states that “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

What sort of message does your life proclaim? What are the words that are breathed by you in the presence of family, friends, coworkers, or complete strangers? Do they continually bring praise to His name? As a pastor, I have heard many times from the lay people that they are not ready to go into all nations and teach and preach the Gospel and for some it may be true. However, for most of us who have been attending church for years and have heard over a hundred messages during the course of that time, we are ready.

Although we are no longer under the old covenant, we are to offer up sacrifices to Him. Brothers and sisters, let us never forget to offer up our praise (Hosea 14:2), our actions and works (1 Corinthians 10:31), and ourselves (Romans 12:1).

WOD:
For time, complete the following workout:
50-40-30-20-10 reps of:
WallBalls
Snatch (115#)
Push-ups

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