courtesy of user: Daderot at en.wikipedia.org

This seems to be the week for roadside messages.  First there was the bumper sticker which required a blog last Tuesday.  Then I happened by First Baptist Church of Thorp Springs today.  This Mayberry-like small town is nestled in the northern part of Texas’ hill country.  The church’s sign displayed a message which impressed me: “This day brought to you by Jesus.”

Paul would agree: “Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).  He made a universe so expansive we cannot begin to comprehend its size.  Then he made our tiny planet.  Then he reduced his omnipotence down to enter our human condition.  Not as a king or high priest, but as a fetus who became a newborn baby held by a peasant teenage mother.

Then he made you and me, and this day we share together.  The psalmist was right: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).  Why rejoice and be glad in it?  Because our Maker has a “good, pleasing and perfect” plan for this day and for us (Romans 12:2).  Because he came “that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  Because he made us for a purpose and a passion which gives our lives significance and joy.

Later in the day I found this statement on a plaque for sale in a gift shop: “Do the thing you love more than anything in life!  You might become a bit unpredictable, sometimes cranky, but you will be happier than you ever imagined possible.”  St. Augustine’s advice was similar: “Love the Lord and do as you will.”  If we do the former, we can have confidence in the latter.

Are you doing the thing you love more than anything in life?