I must have told my son the same thing over one hundred times, “Please don’t squeeze the toothpaste from the middle”. And every morning and each evening how do you think I find the toothpaste? I’ll give you one wild guess. Yep…you guessed it correctly. Inevitably I find the toothpaste in a deformed state, twisted and turned from the middle of the tube. By now you must be wondering where I am going with this. Well…sit tight because I do have a point!
How many times has our Father in Heaven told us how we should do something? And you know He probably repeated himself at least one hundred times. And what did we do? I think you get the picture. We did exactly as my little guy does every day. We twisted the tube of toothpaste directly in the middle.
Looking back on my life I now realize that Jesus gave me precise instructions on how to live my life and I chose either not listen to Him, or I directly disobeyed Him. Why? Isn’t my Savior all knowing? So why would I choose to do my will and not the Lords? I’m not sure I even have the answer to that one. Except that I must have had a momentary mental relapse. I must have forgotten about an omnipotent God who wanted to show the world how much He loved them! So He formed himself into an earthly man and chose to live in this world for 33 years. He chose to be born a carpenters son. He had no formal education and he walked the streets for 3 years trying to show people the love of His Father. Then…to top it all off…he was beaten beyond recognition, spit on and even denied by his closest friends. Only to die a horrible death being nailed to a cross, so that we would not perish.
Today as I noticed that same tube of toothpaste neatly twisted from the middle, I thought about the love of Christ. As many times as I chose not to listen and walk in my ways, He still had compassion and love for me-his child. Today I chose to be a more compassionate parent. As I picked up the tube of toothpaste I gently untwisted the tube and straightened it out. Just like my Lord has done for me a thousand times over. He has untwisted me and straightened me out!
As I left the bathroom and turned off the light, I thanked God for my new found prospective. I thanked Him for showing me how to be more loving and compassionate toward my child just as He has been towards me. And I thought of this simple man called Jesus who bled for me over 2000 years ago, just so I could spend an eternity in Heaven with him …one day. Maybe today I could try and remember how to squeeze my tube of toothpaste for the one man who died for me!
Thank you Jesus!
John 3:16 (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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suellen a wonderful article devotional taken from life as we all live it turning and twisting when we could have should have walked the straight path. You nailed it when you said Jesus untwists and gently smooths the way for us a thousand times. God bless you.
