On a Snowy Day - Clover Sites

1 1 On a Snowy Day Seize the moment and discover a life rich with meaning Doug Brown Lee s Summit Community Church On a Snowy Day 2 I n the time of David, a man named Benaiah fought for Israel with legendary valor. Named among David s mighty men,1 Benaiah earned his promotion to captain of David s bodyguard through feats of heroism. He defeated not just one but two of Moab s best warriors. Later, armed with only a club against a giant Egyptian fighter (7 6 tall), Benaiah wrested his opponent s enormous spear away from him and killed him with it.

2 Perhaps most amazing is Benaiah s victory against the king of beasts: He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 2 The biblical record of his life shows Benaiah s bravery and brawn forged together for a greater purpose an admirable legacy to inspire us even today. Contrast that with this true obituary of a California woman that appeared in the Vallejo Times-Herald on Aug. 16-17, 2008: .. born in 1929 in New Mexico, she left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met by in the afterlife by her husband, her son and a daughter.

3 She had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing .. There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD-BYE, MOM. A life wasted.

4 On a Snowy Day None of us know for sure how long we will live; how many more laps around the sun are ahead of us. But all of us can choose whether to use all we have for a greater purpose as Benaiah did, or to waste it selfishly as the woman above did. My objective here is to convey this simple message: Don t waste your life. Live generously. In the words of King Solomon, There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be This seems counter intuitive, but this is the only way for us to truly blossom.

5 Solomon lived in an agrarian culture and referred to the law of the harvest to teach us how to make the most of our life: share it generously. We are like seeds in a bag. We can choose to remain in the bag and never grow, or we can choose to be scattered as seeds are meant to be. Then, not only will we come to life ourselves, but also see our lives bear much fruit! God said through the prophet Haggai to the Israelites, Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.

6 4 If a farmer fails to scatter the seed by keeping it in the barn, there will be no life. But the moment you choose to be generous with your life, it will begin to blossom the way God designed. 3 4 Jesus said it this way to His followers: For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 5 My hardest and best life lesson This way of life first became personal to me during my college days.

7 My girlfriend and I spent a day together along the shores of Lake Erie outside of Cleveland, my hometown. On that beautiful day, we relished one another s company and every moment felt special. As we walked along the lake s shore, we noticed many small rocks with a variety of colors glimmering in the sunshine. We stepped ankle deep into the water and picked out a few of those colorful rocks. Days later, I decided to enjoy a walk with the Lord along the same lake. At the place where colorful rocks still glimmered, I got distracted. Instead of focusing on Jesus, I started thinking about my girlfriend and how pleased she would be if I took some of those rocks back to her.

8 I chose two rocks and started to walk back when I felt a prompting in my heart to throw the rocks into the water. I stopped .. but then I decided to continue walking toward home. Again, I felt prompted to throw the rocks back in the water. Is the Holy Spirit prompting me? No, that s a crazy idea. I continued walking until I was prompted a third time to throw the rocks back. Finally, I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at the two rocks. I threw the rock that I liked the least back into the lake, but I kept the more colorful rock. On a Snowy Day On a Snowy Day At home, I put the colorful rock in the foyer by my front door to make sure I wouldn t forget it.

9 The next day when I reached for it, I noticed something. During the night, the rock had dried and all of the color was gone! It was just an ordinary brown rock. Then the words of Jesus resonated in my heart: He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. 6 I realized that I was clinging to my relationship with my girlfriend and putting her before the Lord. I was holding on to her, not wanting to lose her. Having this experience and a few more like it (I am a slow learner), I began to understand that I needed to that I had to give this relationship to the Lord with an open hand; to relinquish my plans and desires and instead follow God s leading for that relationship.

10 It took time, but finally on one of my walks with the Lord, I opened my hand and gave God the most valuable treasure of my heart: that relationship. I said to Him, Lord, I give her to you. I give my heart to you. If you keep her in my life that would be awesome, but don t do as I desire but as You desire. That was one of my roughest and toughest life lessons, but it also was the most freeing. I now realize that to fully experience life as God intends for me to, I will have many crucifixions of my heart along the way. These crucifixions are necessary for the soil of my heart to become fertile for God s way and word to do its transforming work in my life.