A Cool Cup of Water

Kingdom living – the idea of enjoying God’s blessings to in turn be a blessing to others – leaves me with much to wrestle with. Maybe foremost is growing in my walk with Jesus to the point that I am no longer consciously aware that I am living out Jesus’ Kingdom message. By that, I mean that I no longer see a person or a situation and have to say “Yes, I can help this person know that Jesus loves them” or “Yes, I can help this situation turn out differently because I am living for Jesus.” Instead, affecting people and their situations becomes as natural to me as drawing air into my lungs. I don’t think about it, I just do it. I am far from that, to the point that I often engage in a mental debate with myself that usually lasts until the decisive moment has passed. And so it goes.

Yet, there is hope. Recently, I was in a restaurant, and there was one server waiting on the entire dining room. Not only was this gal serving, but she was busing tables as well. It wasn’t long before the lunch crowd over-whelmed her, and dirty dishes began piling up on empty tables, leaving hungry folks nowhere to sit. In what is sadly for me a rare response to the leading of the Holy Spirit, as I was leaving, I quickly cleaned off a table, trying my best to not cause her extra work in my efforts to help. Now I say all of this not to give myself an electronic pat on the back, because like I said, this happens “not so much.” But the cool part to me was two-fold: 1) the lady didn’t know that I did this, as she was in the kitchen getting an order together. And 2) A local youth pastor was having lunch with some kids from his youth group in this same restaurant. As I was leaving, he said, “Hey, you’re making us all look bad!” His comment was given good-naturedly, but as I walked out, I simply replied to him that I was offering a cool cup of water to the waitress. And maybe, he was able to take what was for me a rare, but Jesus-oriented, act of kindness, and use that as a discussion starter with those kids. I think sometimes we are so intent on looking for God in the BIG that we miss Him in the daily.

Since that day, I’ve known that God was calling me to other Kingdom responses, and more often than not, I pass them by. As I’ve said, I need to grow in my walk with Jesus – I so desperately want the dust of The Rabbi to be upon me. But after the dust settles, we find a Rabbi with a basin and a towel, ready to serve us without hesitation. May you and I join Jesus in Kingdom Living, as we seek to bring His blessings to others as naturally as we take in our next breath.