Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Jesus in a Box Devotional

(This is my May devotional for my Women's Ministry Newsletter at my church.)

If you've ever driven Hwy 13/43 to Tuscaloosa, you've likely seen the life-sized statue of Jesus in a lighted plexiglass box with a roof. I am as fascinated by it as I am confused by it. I wonder what prompted the idea of putting out the statue, and I wonder where you’d buy such a thing. I pondered, also, why they decided to put the Jesus statue in a box. The most obvious reason I came up with was to protect it from the elements and mischievous passers-by.

Do you put Jesus in a box sometimes? I know I do. I have a way of categorizing my life into little compartments like family, church, things I can handle, things I “let” God handle, etc. That’s not the way that God intends for us to do things. He intends for Jesus to be at the forefront of everything we do or think about.

We don’t need to keep Jesus in a box, only to turn to Him when we encounter trouble. Rather, Jesus should be what others see when go through the day-to-day issues of life. He can handle the everyday situations. There’s nothing too big, too boring, or too routine for Jesus to handle. There’s no reason to try to hide Jesus away or to put Him in a place where He can’t be seen—or see us, since He sees us anyway. If you know Him, you should want for everyone else to see and know Him too!

In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Don’t try to hide that light in a box—Let His light shine through you!

God Bless You!—Lianne

3 delightful comments:

Billy Coffey said...

That was wonderful, Lianne (and also a little convicting). There have been times when I've put Jesus in a box. I really need to change that.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of one of my favorites songs by Ayiesha Woods, "I Don't Want To Box You In". He's been done big things since the world began.

Rene

Rachel said...

Nice job turning JIB into something spiritual.

I mean. . . I guess He always was spiritual, but. . .you know what I mean! :)

Very good devotional!