June 20, 2021

Sunday Devotional With Mr. E: OVERFLOWING

During my student teaching, I asked my co-operating teacher what she was working on currently.  She said, "You mean art?  Honey, you will see that once you start teaching that you just won't have the time or desire to create any more!  The last thing you'll want to do is pick up a paint brush at home after teaching art all day long."  WHAT?  That seemed absurd to me at the time.  I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that would not happen to me! 

As artists, there is an urge/longing/desire to create. It is at the core of who we are.  If we are not creating, something out of balance in our lives.  We all go through "seasons".  There are seasons where we are creating up a storm, but at other times we find ourselves walking through an artistic wasteland struggling to have even a creative thought. 

 At first, I was able to maintain that balance of teaching & creating.  I was sure that my co-operating teacher just didn't know how to organize her life in such a way that would allow for her to easily continue artistic pursuits. However, once I got married & we began having children, I realized how easy it was to "lose" that aspect of my life.  


Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2:6-7

I feel this same thing can happen in our faith as well.  We can get so busy with living life that we forget who we are in Him, the training we received, who He made us to be, and what He wanted our lives to look like.  But how can we combat this?  I feel if we embrace the last part of verse 7...we may have our answer.  OVERFLOWING WITH GRATITUDE!  Gratitude comes when we are aware of our position before Christ, and the true gift He gave us through His life, death, resurrection, and opportunity for reconciliation in & through Him!  If our lives are grounded in the attitude of gratitude for all the things He has done....how could we ever lose site of Him & who He made us to be in our day to day?  Others will see Christ in us & it will impact every area of our life because of the OVERFLOWING!

With my art, I've learned to keep an art journal or sketch pad handy.  I know that I might not have time to do large scale works of art, but I can still create small sketches/designs in my journal.  This helps to feed my creative soul. Through this I've been inspired to create larger pieces or develop ideas for larger pieces. That would not be possible if I allowed the artist I was created to be to flounder in unrealized potential.   My spiritual soul needs to be feed as well.  Not only do I need to realize who He is & who I am in Him, but I need to continually grow my relationship with the Lord.  It might be times of prayer, fellowship with other believers, reading a Christian book on my iPad, or reading the Word on an app (or the old fashion way..an actual paper Bible!).  Whatever it is...for something to be OVERFLOWING continually...the source needs to be pouring into it!  

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