“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 ESV)
Every Sunday a little , pre-school age girl, comes to the pulpit where I am setting, waiting for church to start. She comes with her grandmother who faithfully shows up early. She matches my definition of on time, “If you are early, you are on time and if you are just on time, you are late.” My definition may not be original, but my own family members will attest from their childhood years, sometimes, much to their chagrin, that this had been my modus operandi for decades. This past Sunday, the young girls approaches me and begins showing me a variety of things: her pretty sweater, her matching shoes, and her coordinating necklace and bracelet. Her insistence on interacting before service is inspirational to me, so I don’t mind it at all. Now there was one more thing she showed me Sunday. It was a practice writing book. She turned page after page after page, specifically drawing my attention to the work that she had completed and showed me the examples of how she stayed on the line. I complemented her and she promptly returned to her regular seat in the pews, right by her grandmother.
Let’s get closer to the point I want to make this morning. Let’s get a little closer to the challenge I want to issue to you this morning. If you remember from geometry, there were various kinds of lines; horizontal lines, perpendicular lines, vertical lines, and parallel lines. My favorite two lines are the vertical and the horizontal lines. The vertical line, from a spiritual perspective, keeps us in contact with God. The horizontal line, representing our relationship with others, stays “straight,” when we get the vertical line right. Agree? Out of my two favorites, I want to focus on the horizontal line, as I was inspired by the young child I mentioned above. The horizontal line has a starting point, as it relates to our Christian journey through life, and it continues on until the day our soul goes to be with the Lord. My challenge and really, my hope is that you are able to do well in staying on the line, going from your starting point, and continuing straight today and every subsequent page of life that you are blessed to see. I want to be able to complement you and be comforted in knowing that one day, you will be met with a better compliment, one from the Lord Himself, similar to the words below in the closing verse. Have a great Tuesday! Be blessed!
“Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things.” (Matthew 25:23b KJV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King