Great Monday in the morning! The time has come to pay the piper. The spring time change can usually be put off on the Sunday by sleeping in a bit, but on Monday we all have to pay the price for this stupid, unnecessary, ridiculous, politically-motivated, time change thing. The spring time change is so bad that I almost wrote "Good Thursday..." that's how messed up my poor little brain is today. And my workplace is right here in my home! I can only imagine how the corporate minions feel today. I very much enjoyed the sun coming in the window during my devotional time. Now, darkness with only a hint of dawn. This is a sad day.
However, God says to be joyful today. The day is what we make of it, no matter how early the quacks make us get up today. After a couple of weeks dragging around, our bodies will get accustomed to the time change and we'll be good to go, at least until the next one. Crab, crab, crab... every stinkin' time the time changes you have to listen to me crab about the time change; it's time for a change! Hee, hee, sorry about that; the times they are a changin'. Oops, I done it again! What can we do about the things we cannot change? We can laugh about them! My body feels sleepy and out of sorts, but my mind can laugh and delight in the joy of the Lord. What do I look forward to about Heaven? No time changes! Woo hoo!
When we think about the Holy Spirit reminding us of scripture, we think that in a difficult moment the Spirit will remind us of John 3:16. But who reminded John of John 3:16? John didn't write the gospel according to himself until about 50 years after Jesus had gone to Heaven. I don't know about you, but I can forget a lot of conversations in fifty years. I know 'cuz I ain't there yet and I have forgotten most of the conversations that took place in my youth. In fact, I have forgotten most of the conversations that took place a year ago. So how did the Gospel According to John get written? The Holy Spirit reminded John of what Jesus would have him to write in the book we know by his name. All of the Gospels could be entitled: The Gospel According to the Holy Spirit. How did John remember the events and words of 50 years ago in his life? The Holy Spirit reminded him!
What happened long ago in your life that you would like the Holy Spirit to remind you of? We often have no trouble being reminded of those awful conversational gaffes; the ones where we would dearly like another chance to say a different thing. I don't think the Holy Spirit is responsible for those reminders. We need to be reminded of scripture because our past words are often not good to dwell on, especially if long ago you believed in only your own self. In learning to say and write the right words at the right time, it certainly helps to have a set of brakes on that tongue. The Holy Spirit not only provides a helpful, "Whoa there!" when we are about to blurt out something mean, but can remind us of a good verse or two that might fit the situation better. Imagine how many words passed John's ears and lips before he sat down in Ephesus to write his gospel, yet the Holy Spirit reminded him of all that we read in John.
We might be tempted to think that John was one of those people who never forget anything, but that probably wasn't the case. More than likely John was no better at recalling the things of the past than you or I. Like us, John probably had some devilish help in remembering the time that Jesus rebuked him and his brother for wanting to demolish a town. You may have missed the part in John's gospel where he referred to himself as, "the one Jesus thought was a complete buffoon." That is because the Holy Spirit reminded John of the many words that Jesus wanted John to write and the love of our Lord for the one named John. If you are like me and many others around us, we tend to apply derogatory labels to ourselves that Jesus never spoke to us or saw in us. John and his brother probably had several episodes where Jesus had to correct them. We don't need to read about those, we need to be reminded of John 1:36 where John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" and the many verses in John's gospel that tell of the Christ, God's Son, Messiah, and certainly, God's love for us shown in the person of Jesus Christ.
Wake up, put on the coffee, and praise the Lord for the new day!
Bucky
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