Two mischievous children thought it would be
fun to play a prank on their old German Grandfather. As he slept they retrieved his Limburger* Cheese from the fridge and smeared just a bit into his bushy
walrus mustache. When he awoke everything seemed fine for a
moment. Then he began to sniff the air. He checked little Heinrich’s clean diaper
and growled, “You still smell.” Then he walked into the kitchen and sniffed and
looked and scowled. “Helga, it smells in here too” he said. Finally he steps
out onto the back porch and inhales long and deep. First he mumbles something
unintelligible in old German and then proclaims with all of his gusto, “The
whole world smells today.” The obvious lesson of this story is that the people
and world around us are understood through the filters we have in place. These
filters are easily seen. A few obvious ones are selfishness, anger, pride,
lust, competition, as well as compassion gentleness, joy, kindness, etc. Every
relationship and circumstance flows through the filter that has been either actively
chosen or passively accepted in life. Philippians 1:9 teaches that the filter for
life is to be Love! Love is to be our premier characteristic through which every
attitude and action is chosen and tested.
The life that flows out of this filter is described as ‘Excellent’ in vs.10. Imagine if God calls something excellent how amazing it must be. Perhaps the time has come to wash away the Limburger that is in your filter and replace it with the sweet aroma of God's love. If life stinks then maybe it is the filter that needs changing and not really your mate, or friends, or job... This Sunday at Fellowship we will examine how to take the next step in finding how to filter life through God's love and live an ‘Excellent’ life. I invite you to join us and bring a friend whose life is stinky at either 9:00am or 10:30am. * The Chalet Cheese Coop in Monroe,WI is the only producer of Limburger Cheese in the U.S. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/smallbusiness/1004/gallery.last_one_standing/4.html |
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