Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Pastors’ Column – 07/26/10



If you were going to spray black tar for a seal coating on a church’s parking lot on a windy day, what color pants would you wear?

I was amazed at the guy who recently did the spraying at Good Shepherd’s parking lot, because he chose some white disposable pants to slip over his work pants. I thought, why, of all colors, would he choose to wear white when working with black tar?

Now, I suppose white is good because it will reflect the sun when working on the hot blacktop. White also could be the cheapest, and be good for the bottom line for the business.

But I also thought of another reason why one might choose white: it shows every bit of tar on you, and it easily reveals where the tar is, so you don’t transfer tar to anything else.

This made me think about my relationship with Jesus. Do I want Him to expose everything in me that is not pleasing to Him?

Do I want to know what sin is in my life, so I can confess it and ask for forgiveness, or am I content to hope it is not there or doesn’t show – even though it may be transferring to other relationships and making them dirty.

It seems like the attitude of the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24 was, “Lord, show it all to me.” Here is his prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

I think this is the heart attitude of a growing Christian – he wants to know what hurts his Lord, so he can take care of it and not repeat what grieves his God.

How are things in your relationships with other people? Are you continuing to do things that irritate them? That will not help your relationship get closer.

Ask the Lord to help you turn from what hurts Him and other people. Ask Him to search your attitudes and actions to lead you in the way that gives life to relationships.

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