Got "RAKSAB-ing?"

Hey before we get going today, I have an announcement.  We reached 1,000 together!  Sometime over last night "O The Places You Will Go!" blog site was clicked for the 1,000th time.  Thanks for joining me here.  I am hoping you've smiled, been made to think and come to know our Lord Jesus better because of the time you've spent here meeting me and meeting one another.

Well, I'm wondering if you've RAKSAB-bed lately?  You don't know whether you have or not, you say?

Why don't you know?  Well, cuz' you don't exactly know what it is, you say?

You want me to tell you?  You don't know, cuz' it sounds kind of dangerous, you say?

I'll tell you what; let me tell you a little story about it, and then I'll tell you what it is - OK?

I've been making friends with Devin.  He's one of our awesome third graders at North Campus.  Well, we were "hanging out" on the gym floor in afternoon daycare a couple of days ago.  We weren't talkin' about much.  You know the kind of talk:  "How ya doin' D-Bomb (I call him that sometimes)?" "Pretty good," he answered.  "Anything goin' on?" I asked.  "Not really," said he.  "Had a good day, bro?" I keep trying.  "Not too bad," said the D-Man.

Then it happened.  Devin pulled out a three inch salamander.  No, not a live one, but one he had been very careful to make out of clay.  It was brown with a definite tail, head and body.  Yes, it had all four legs.  But the most awesome parts of his brown salamander were its huge fluorescent green eyes.

"What ya' got there, bro?"  "It's a salamander I made for you" comes back Devin.  "For me; are you sure?" I asked.  No answer.  He just held it out for me to take it.

That is a RAKSAB!  Is it dangerous?  Well yes, in some ways.  It is the risk of making friends.  Could you be a friend to someone like Devin was a friend to me?

What happens if I try, and the person to whom I'm trying to be nice doesn't be nice back, you ask? You may never know unless you try by taking a risk to be kind.

So what's a RAKSAB anyway, you ask? A Random Act of Kindness or a Senseless Act of Beauty.  Acting out love for someone expecting nothing in return - that's what it is!

Devin did a kindness for me without any thought of getting something from me.  Now - have you RAKSAB-bed lately?

All this talk of RAKSAB-bing has got me to thinkin' about the greatest RAKSAB ever.  God gave His one and only Son to die on a cross so that you and I might live forever with Him.  While Jesus was dying for us, He looked down upon those responsible for His death and said these words, "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing."  Yep, RAKSAB all over the place!

When Jesus lives inside of us by His Holy Spirit, we'll find ourselves RAKSAB-ing all the time.  And guess what?  We won't be afraid.  Why not?  I John 4:18 that's why!  His "perfect love" in us "expels (gets rid of) all fear."

Better pray!  Dear Lord, thank You for loving us perfectly!  Fill us with yourself, so that we will RAKSAB without fear.  Then give us the pure joy of serving You and others freely without looking for anything in return!  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson