Lost Its Luster?
Did you ever have something that you really liked or enjoyed that eventually “lost its luster”? Most people have – I did. When I was in grade school one of the things I loved to do with my friends after school and on weekends was play baseball. I had a glove and a bat and a well-worn hard ball, as did most all of my playmates. We would gather at an old ball diamond, pool our equipment, choose up teams and have a glorious time playing together. There were the usual disagreements about who was safe and who was out, but we always settled the issue to everyone’s satisfaction. We didn’t “call” strikes so the only way to strike out was to go down swinging, resulting in a lot of “hits” to put people into play on the bases. Our skills were varied, but my pleasure was to wait for just the right pitch and then bash that baseball as far as I could toward the fence.
It was glorious to watch the ball sail high in the air and to hear the opposite team yell, “Move back!” every time I approached the plate. But something happened when I went out for baseball in 8th grade junior high. Confronted with skilled pitchers, grumpy umpires and the coach’s strategy that seemed to infringe on my “fun”, baseball lost its luster and the glory of my childhood escapades faded along with my batting average.
Sometimes the glory of following Jesus and being a part of the body of Christ can begin to fade in our lives. What began as an exciting new adventure starts to lose its luster in the daily struggles that confront us as we endeavor to live for Jesus in a contrary world. Paul tells the church that we have this “treasure in earthen vessels”, but at times we “vessels of clay” can dim the glory and beauty of the “treasure” of God’ Spirit that abides in us.
Like the veil of the old temple, we diminish the glory of the living God by our habits, hurts and hopelessness. But if we will take the action of faith to do as He instructs in His word, the psalmist declared that God would be our “glory and the lifter of our head.” If we take the cover off the lamp, light will shine forth again. What had once lost its luster is renewed, and glory can be restored!
How exciting to be His people,
Pastor David Vanderpool
