The following is the worship thought I wrote for my amazing Organic Chemistry class :)
My older brother, Josh, was my best friend growing up. He was also my biggest enemy. While we got along for the most part, every now and then, the cat and dog in us would come out.
I remember one day at my grandparents’ house, Josh did something to upset me. What it was, I don’t recall. I was pretty much a germaphobe, so any of his little "manliness” demonstrations, which included giving me Wet Willies or rubbing his boogers on my face, were sometimes enough to make me behave, as my mother said, savage-like.
Well, whatever my brother did that day, made me so angry that I decided to kick him in where a guy should never be kicked. Before I kicked him, he had been laughing, but now he was down on the floor in pain. Then he looked and me and as I soon I saw his face (whoa!), I took off running for my life!
So my grandparents’ house is pretty big and is built on a hill out in the country and trying to run around it is quite the challenge, but that is what I decided to do. I jumped over a safety baby gate knocking it down on my way out. I ran down the side of the house, which was downhill, getting caught in bush and having to dodge the crazy goat that was tied up back there. This goat was pretty fearsome and had once gotten loose and charged at my great grandmother who ran into the outhouse for safety and had her trapped in there until my grandpa came home a couple of hours later. So I was still running and was now going uphill through a super muddy area and was then climbing up over a wall to get on the front porch. Josh was still chasing me, so I had to run around again. By the third time around, I was getting tired. Normally I could outrun my brother, but with his adrenaline rush, I thought he’d certainly get me. We were in the muddy area, and he was so close to me. Josh had been yelling at me most of the time in his squeaky, pre-puberty voice saying, "Imma get you!," but then I heard this manly, ferocious voice behind me yell “STOP!” I turned around to look at my brother, wondering how in the world he could sound like that. He was only like nine or ten, and I had never heard Josh yell like that.
When I turned around, I saw my grandpa grabbing Josh by the collar of his shirt. Then my grandpa picked him up by his shoulders and brought him inside. I could not feel my legs anymore and I sank down right in the mud. I looked down at my arms and legs and they were so scratched and muddy. Ugly is exactly what I was and felt. I don’t know remember, thankfully, what disciplinary actions my mom used for us, but I do remember the relief of having my grandpa “save” me. Later I found out that my grandpa had witnessed the entire chase and had been trying to stop for quite some time.
This reminds me of God’s grace toward us. We go and make best friends with the devil, and then try to get out of the mess we created by our own means. All we can think to do is run around in a big proverbial muddy circle. God calls out to us from the beginning, but we refuse to take the time to listen to His voice. We are hurt, scared, filthy with sin and totally deserving the beat-down of death that is about to come upon us when God steps in and grabs Satan by the collar, and says “For the wages of sin are death ,but the gift of God is eternal life.”
God is not always going to save us from the little consequences of what happens for breaking His law of love, but He has promised to save those who choose to follow Him from eternal death. Stop running circles in the mud; make Christ your best friend and then your path, though bumpy, will be sure and ultimately sweet.
