Groundhog Day

Let me make sure I got this right.

A groundhog comes out of a hole, no, is taken from a wooden box, in Pennsylvania and if the groundhog sees his shadow there is six more weeks of winter. TV crews gather to record the moment and to broadcast it live. Lights, camera, action--weather forecasting at it's finest. I always wonder if all the lights and stuff from the TV crews can play tricks on this "fool proof" shadow casting method of meteorology.

I will admit I am skeptical about the validity of this ritual. But, I will admit that every year I look to see what the groundhog saw. Today he saw a shadow.

I know that there are folks that are skeptical about some of the claims of Christianity. I know there are people who will argue the validity of the Bible. There are people that look at Christians like I do the groundhog. They look with an eye of skepticism yet they are still looking.

Here is what it got me thinking about today. We may be the only bible people read. Very cliche, I know. But, it is true. They might argue the theology but they can not argue what they see in the life of Christians. The might dispute stories of the Bible but they can not argue with your story. They can not deny love. Real love cannot be denied. Real love in the name of Christ is the greatest proof if the reality of Jesus.

I think a lot of skepticism comes from the fact that the Christian faith talks about love but often what is seen is judgement and hurt. We talk about grace but we don't offer it to others.

When we claim to be followers of Jesus the best that we can do is cast a shadow of Jesus on others. They see the effect of the Son shining on us. Our actions cast that shadow. Here is the tough part, if we say we are followers of Jesus than our actions represent Christ to others that are looking whether we intend for them to or not. This is why they say Christians are the best and the worst advertisement for Christ. This is why we need to make love real and not just talk about it. This is why we need to be real about who we are and who God is. This is why we need to be real about our love of God and our love of others.

People see the shadow we cast and they will attribute it to Christ. You and I represent Christ to others. I don't think that people are looking for perfection from us. I think they are looking to see if it is real. Deep inside all of us is a desire that it be real. We want to know there really is a God who loves and cares for us. We want to know there is a purpose and a meaning to all of this. We want to know that something is real.

The most important thing is not the shadow-- it is the light that shines on us. If we allow Christ to shine on us than the shadow will be his shadow. If Christ's love flows through us than people will see the love of Christ. If God's grace flows through us than they will see God's grace.

So are you letting the light shine on you? What is the shadow that you want others to see.

The answer is love. No one will argue with love.

Love today. In real ways

In Christ's love and mine,

Doug