TODAY THE WORDS are AFTER THE PARTY. I was reminded yesterday of one of my daughter’s birthday parties as a toddler and this thought came to me, “what happens after the party is over?” I remember hosting a lot of parties for all kinds of occasions, birthday parties, showers, cook outs, etc. I also remember being so tired by the time the party started after cleaning, cooking, baking, wrapping presents, decorating, etc. that I usually was not at my best when the particular party started. However, once the guests arrived I would get into the festivities and join in on the fun. My daughter has such a exciting spirit, it was a joy to see her get so excited. Each present brought a new found joy and her smile was infectious. Everyone would make me feel so proud of all of the effort I had put forth with them loving the decorations and the food. This was a special part of my life and I cherish each memory and smile. I would think all of you have experienced this joy and pride of a lot of effort paying off in joyous times. The guests would leave and I would look at the leftover signs of the fun, the joy, the fun, and now……..all of the work to remove the “party” and restore the house to normal. The focus is on my thoughts during the clean up for this morning’s message. I was eager prior to the party and the work even though it was more physical exertion, it had more excitement attached to it. The after party clean up seemed to be more tedious and labored because the excitement had left with the guests. Washing dishes, taking down decorations, vacuuming and mopping floors, taking the trash out, wiping off counters and restoring all of the accessories to their former places on the tables was a lot of work. It seemed so different from the pre party activities and here comes the deeper thought….mostly all of us have felt this kind of adrenalin in our lives and we have felt the pre party excitement. I am not talking about parties exclusively as this can be the pregnancy and birth of a child. There can be so much excitement about preparation for the baby, decorating the nursery, buying clothes, supplies, etc. Then comes the sweet baby and the guests come and the party of celebrating a new birth occurs, and then the guests leave. This can be a difficult time for a new mother and father as the “party cleanup” starts. Other events in our lives can create the same up and down feeling to us. I think we need to be aware of the “salvation party feeling” too. We have to remember to keep the “soul party” excitement alive and allow our soul cleanup to be completed without the dreaded clean up feeling. When the initial excitement seizes, we need to remember we are still preparing for the ultimate party in the sky for time and all eternity.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Luke 15:7 King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
(c) copyright 2013 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.
