By Rev. David Cameron
I was recently gifted a vibrant work of art by our pastor’s 4-year-old daughter Elena, and between it hanging beside my calendar and the bursting fall colors that surround us I have found myself reflecting on the very serious topic of crayons.
OK, they probably aren’t in your top ten priorities NOW, but once upon a time they were pretty important. I’d bet that most of us can remember back to school day, and how nice it was to have a brand-new box of crayons. They’d be all lined up in that sturdy little cardboard box, tips sharpened to fine precision points, all in order, labeled with a small piece of snug fitting paper and just waiting to create masterpiece works for prominent display on refrigerator door galleries.
Mine never stayed that way for long. In almost no time the little wrappers would be torn off, the points worn down, and entire crayons broken in half. I colored intensely.
There were always a few folks who managed to keep their crayons looking almost new.
They didn’t color hard and break off points. They wouldn’t tear the paper off and color with the sides of crayons. They were careful to use just a bit of each color so they didn’t wear any one out, and they left a lot of white spaces on their pictures. They also didn’t share their crayons, because somebody else might break one, or use it “wrong”.
It seems a strange thing to think about, perhaps, but sometimes these crayon habits carry over into our adult lives.
How? When we accept Christ as savior and Lord, He gives us the gift of the Spirit, and other personalized gifts as well. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
God wants us to use the gifts we’re given to color the world with God’s grace. Our gifts are like crayons. If we choose to we can leave them in their box unused, or be so very careful and sparing in their use that they don’t get broken in.
God gives lavishly, not counting the cost. The gift of Christ is proof. God callus us to reflect this attitude in the way we use “our” gifts. We need to be willing to take them out and color like we mean it, even though it results in some wear and tear.
God will always give us more if we are using our gifts for God’s kingdom. Our lives are outlines waiting to be filled by the colors of God’s grace, and the more intense the colors the better. We’ve been given the crayons; we’d better get busy. Heaven’s fridge has a LOT of space ready for our work.