This week's Theme: Laying it all down
Day 1: Laying it all down - Empty Pots
I wrestled with the small openings of the utensil holder, trying to free the spoon that had fallen sideways. It lodged even tighter. I felt impatient and frustrated—this should have been a simple task.
The difficulty was, I was trying to free the spoon with my non-dominant hand. In my other hand was an empty pot I did not want to put down. No good reason existed for continuing to hold on to the pot—other than my stubborn refusal to make a slight adjustment in my current orientation.
So I wrestled, and pushed, and pulled and fumed, and snarled, until—bang-ga-dang (in my Vincentian vernacular), both spoon and utensil holder went crashing to the floor.
As I (finally!) lay down the pot and started the clean-up, I thought of other struggles I have had in laying it all down—the futile wrestling and the fighting, and eventually the crashing.
My struggle is all too common. The crashing sound of failed grabs reverberate through homes and families, organizations and communities, churches, and institutions. And we are left looking dazedly at the empty pots in our dominant hand.
Scripture is full of instructions about our empty pots. Mostly instructions about laying them all down—idols, burdens, entanglements, rights, life…
Jesus Himself spoke much about unwise trade-offs and tragic forfeitures. In one of the most compelling examples, He told His disciples: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it (Luke 9:24).
Often, the most tragic element about forfeiture is its dependence on hindsight. The too-late realization of what was lost. The deep regret about the amazingly senseless refusal to adjust orientation. Because the thing about empty pots is that they are—well—empty.
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