(04.30.21 – Encouragement! – Acts 14:21-25)
My friend, may I ask you a question? Why is it that we so seldom take the time to take a chance of our joy and laughter and share it with someone else who just needs to know what it means to put a smile on their face?
My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.
I'm M. Clifford Brunner.
"Take one down and pass it around, 99 bottles of beer on the wall." Although this wasn't one of those songs Dads on vacation or bus drivers loved, it was a song we sang without invitation since there wasn't a kid who didn't know or like singing it despite its sometimes irritating refrain and unending duration. It began slowly and deliberately, always with a smile. We knew full well that it would get more raucous and the tempo would increase with each passing verse. Finally reaching "No bottles of beer on the wall with "zero bottles" to pass around, the song had become almost breathless. Yet, so addictive was this mantra it wasn’t unusual to start the process all over again. When we sang the song everything else seemed to melt away; all you could focus on was that next numeric bottle of beer on the wall and little else mattered.
Why was that song so addictive? The "passing around" was a happy thought because it meant that we were giving and getting at the same time. Not a bad prospect for any kid.
"Giving and getting." As a Christian there's probably no better position to be in either. To take some of what we have, even if it's nothing more than a smile, a chuckle or a kind word, and "pass it around" knowing full well what we start will ultimately come back to us and we can do it all over again with gusto. Yet, why are there so many discouraged Christians today? Why aren't they sharing in our "passing" encouragement? A thought from Chuck Swindoll: "The lack of encouragement (today) is almost an epidemic. To illustrate this point, when did you last encourage someone else? I firmly believe that an individual is never more Christ-like than when full of compassion for those who are down, needy, discouraged, or forgotten. How terribly essential is our commitment to encouragement! Is there some soul known to you in need of encouragement? A student off at school, a forgotten servant of God laboring in an obscure and difficult ministry, a widow who needs your companionship, someone who tried something new and failed? Encourage generously! Encourage generously! Encouragement, a new watchword for our times; shout it out." (Swindoll’s Book of Illustrations )
We have the Good News and it's better than any “ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall” in putting a smile on someone's face. Yet, like the song, the gospel of Jesus Christ is an accessible commodity. It's there, waiting on the shelf for someone like you and I to take it, read it and then, in a spirit of love and sharing, pass it around to others. And, what's even better is this––there is an endless supply of this encouragement. It's a song we never need to stop singing and one our Heavenly Father will never tire of hearing. Encourage someone today. Be the one to start the "passing around."
We pray. Heavenly Father, You choose to encourage us despite our sinful pride and nature, because You know our best efforts were at stake. So You chose encouragement. Whatever we do in this life Lord, we pray that it will always be our best effort. Forgive us when we don’t and bless us when we do. Show us the people in our lives today that could use some encouragement to get their dreams flying despite their falling short of the mark. Move us by Your Spirit to help them make the best of a failed effort. Give us the ability to praise instead of being critical. Perhaps there is still room for their dreams to fly if we’re willing to stand by their side. Encouragement is something we need to pass around. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.
If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”
<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.