Green is not just green when you have been watching your weight as long as I have. We long time dieters care about our salads. We add varieties like Baby Spinach (sweet, earthy), Arugula (bold, peppery) and Bibb (delicate and buttery) to our bowl. We might toss in some Raddicchio (fresh, bitter) or even a handful of Mache (mild, nutty). After all, variety is the spice of life, isn’t it? A touch of mayo and we enjoy the meld of all those different flavours.
Oh, we like variety well enough in salad greens, but when it comes to our church, not so much. A few of our members may be sweet Baby Spinach-ers, but in our personal opinion, too many are overly sensitive Bibb, nutty Mache, stinging Arugula or downright bitter Raddicchio. None of them are tender shoots.
Admit it. Neither are we. The church is a salad bowl of a little of everything.
Only one of our church attendees exhibits the full essence of tender. It is the Christ.
Isaiah 53:2-He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (NIV).
Face it; none of us are perfect. But as we continue to reach out to Tender Shoot, he’ll pour on a little mayo of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts, and therefore our actions change and we meld in flavor as tenderness occurs.
Philippians 3:12- Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own (AMP).
Prayer: Lord, shake up our salad bowl congregations. Pour a little Holy Spirit Mayo over us. Make us tender, like you. Amen.
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