Starting the week

Monday morning, tired, tired,..... if you have ever preached on Sunday there is a phenomenon called Holy Hangover. It is the effects of being mentally drained over the weekend. I also got a late start this morning as my kids had a 2 hour delay because of fog and some slick road conditions. It took an extra two cups of coffee to get over the holy hangover and get out the door this morning. The problem with being the preacher is that God makes me live my own sermons before and after I give them. So as my feet hit the floor this morning my prayer was simple......God help me to see and love your Imago Dei (people created in the image of God). Every day Imago Dei is right in front of me and I confess, there are times my brain is engaged in something else and I don't even see them or my brain is not engaged at all and I am just on auto pilot, oblivious to my surroundings. Sometimes I never see the waitress at the restaurant, the gal I pay at the gas station for my coffee, the young man who hands me my food at the drive through.... (I confess, I like Big Macs, can't you tell, apple turnovers at Rax are the bomb too). But I don't want to live like this anymore. Every day I encounter Imago Dei and I don't even take time to acknowledge them, let alone, try to show the love of Christ to them. So my prayer goes like this... "Holy Spirit, bring to my heart and mind to stop and look into the faces of your Imago Dei and look for the image of God that is in them. Help me to celebrate that image and value them the way you value them. Help me to remember their faces, to search their souls for evidence of Jesus and to seek to love them as if I was Jesus and he was standing right in front of them." And then it hit me. Jesus is sanding right in front of them because he is living in me and I am his physical representation of him on earth. I no longer want to go to Church......I want to be the church.
So far, I spent time with the lady at the gas station, the man who works for the village, and a guy at the post office. You know people are a bit awkward when you spend more than a minute with them or you appear interested in them. That's OK.......because my mission this week is to not only see Imago Dei but to love Imago Dei. More later....... remember john loves you but Jesus loves you more.

john james