so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, Colossians 1:10
I was trying to get into a safe the other day when the code wasn’t working. Ok, so maybe the code wasn’t the problem, and the programmer was the issue. Well, that isn’t exactly right either. Do you really need me to admit it? Fine, I was the problem. I couldn’t remember all the numbers. I could only remember some of them, and it kept beeping at me! Then, I was afraid it would blow up or something because I got it wrong so many times. Apparently, I just wasn’t allowed to try again.
All of those shenanigans threw me back into time when I had to deal with a combination lock on my locker. I’m telling you that lockers and locks still give me anxiety just thinking about them. I know you’re on the edge of your seat, while impatiently waiting to hear my horror story from high school, but I don’t have one. At least I don’t remember any traumatic experiences happening back then.
Why the lock issues? Dreams…nightmares! I’m thrown back into high school, and I can never remember where my locker is located. When I finally find it, I can’t get into it because of that crazy combination lock. I remember part of it, but no matter how hard I try to think, it’s impossible to remember the whole thing. It stays locked. Crazy, right? I’m sure someone could have all kinds of fun interpreting that dream, but I haven’t actually had it in a long time. Maybe I’m under control.
The character trait for today is Virtue-the moral excellence evident in my life as I consistently do what is right (definition from characterfirst.com).
Having virtue is simply having our positive character traits! The amazing thing is that all our character traits are intertwined. We need sensitivity to have discernment. We need faith to have security. We need justice to have dependability. We need generosity to show benevolence…the list goes on and on. All our character traits work together, and in order for them to grow, we have to practice them. They need to become our habits.
Think back to the locks I was talking about. They didn’t work when I only had part of the combination. We must combine our character traits, like numbers on a lock, in order to open the door to a life that’s worthy of the Lord and pleases Him in every way. This is how we grow and bear fruit!
Let’s be determined to live up to our potential and never give up on doing the right thing. We’ve been given a gift of THE perfect example that we can model our lives from. I don’t know about you, but it seems like such a waste to not unwrap a gift given just for me. Rise higher and unwrap that gift already!
