Matthew 7:12-14

Matthew 7:12-14
 English Standard Version (ESV)

  Saturday, we took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt.  It was a typical March day in Columbus, with sunshine but temperatures in the 20s and a vicious wind.  The kids were cold.  The parents were cold.  The candy was cold.
  I took Danielle to the 3&4 year old section, which was covered in candy.  When it was (finally) time, she walked out into the area, picked up 4 or 5 pieces of candy, and then turned to me and said, "I'm cold."  She was ready to go home, leaving all that candy behind.  I didn't blame her one bit, and we hustled back to the car.
  Our lives are a lot like this -- God often spreads his grace and love around us, but we get caught up in focusing on something else.  Sometimes it's material or physical comfort, while other times we're just in the middle of something else and don't see what God is doing.  It's a hard road of discipleship to walk, and it takes daily dedication to grow and mature over a lifetime of following Christ.  Jesus challenges us to take up our cross daily, to not get distracted by everything else in our lives, but to make following Christ the central motivator in our life and to engage with everything else through the lens of Christ's selfless and inviting love.