Caught on Camera

This is the day we stop and think about making resolutions for the new year.  What will we do differently, if anything?

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:20

In today's reading, Paul tells us we need to think differently about ourselves and others.  We are not merely seeking to change ourselves, but to help others make the changes they need to make to be closer to God.

Sounds easy.

Get to know God better this year.  That's the main resolution we can all make.  Consider it Resolution One.

In order for me to encourage you to be closer to God, though, I will need to be a good ambassador.  I will have to be an example of the light God sent into the world.

That could be challenging, especially if I am focused on me and my needs, rather than on God's desire for this world.

So, to be an ambassador, I probably need to have an idea what God wants for us and from us, so that I could help exhibit that desire through love of all I encounter.

That's a pretty tall order for us common folk, isn't it?

It is so much easier to go through the day thinking only about myself, not worrying about how others experience the encounter with me.  That way, I can be rude or impatient or even nasty and not realize it.

But what if there was a camera in the sky focused on me all day long?  What would it see that I failed to see?

That's an eerie thought.  Who wants all his actions to be caught on camera?

But it is a fitting question for us today, when so much of what we do is subject to recording and posting on FB.

So, my resolution for the new year is to find a way to see me the way others see me, to be the camera in the sky capturing my encounters and reporting back to my soul what kind of job I am doing, being that ambassador God wants me to be.

If I am pleased with the daily record of my encounters, then I am probably on the right track.  But maybe not.  I will need to ask what God thinks about them.

How am I doing, God?  Am I a good example of the light?

I may not know for sure, but the more I try, the closer I will get to being the beacon in the darkness.

Tough resolution?

Perhaps, but if I am going to fail at something, why not make it big?

More to come...