Saturday

Good Saturday to you! I hope your week was good and you are excited for this day. We are going to stain my deck today and I'm excited about that. It has needed it for the last couple of years and we've spent 2 days of prepping it, scrubbing, sanding, taking out bad boards and old nails. And finally, we are ready to put on a new coat of protective stain to make it shine and be beautiful once again. 

When Jesus gives the explanation of His parable about the weeds in the wheat field, He concludes with this. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil...
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
Matthew 13:41, 43 NLT

As I looked over the deck with  a few new boards here and there and lots of new screws, it is such a picture of me. Some pieces are old and some are new, some are discolored and rough, and a few are brand new just like the repairs that have been done on my life through the years. But, when Jesus counts me righteous, he brings the stain and covers me to the point that I can shine like the sun regardless of my imperfections. 

This imagery of shine is used quite a bit in the Bible. In Deborah’s triumphal song, we find, ‘Let all them that love Thee be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.’ In Daniel’s prophecy, we read, ‘They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’ Then in the New Testament many times Christ compares His servants to light. The upshot of all of these is this--the most radiant thing on earth is the righteousness that grace has given to us. Even if the world calls men of genius and intellect its lights, in the opinion of the Almighty (which is really the only one that counts) righteousness is the brightest thing on this planet. 

Today, praise God that you are counted as righteous. Thank Him for His grace and stain that lets us shine like the sun. 

Love you friend,

Pam

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