Keep it shiny side up. We had a rule when I was growing up: no play until the chores were done. One of my chores as a pre-teen was mowing the yard. When I first started we had a power assisted push mower. If our one acre yard had been flat, the task would not have been as challenging for a kid who had to reach up in order to grab the mower handles, but it was a long sloping hill in the front of the house and a pretty steep terraced hill in the back. It took well over an hour to accomplish this task (which is an eternity for a hyperactive pre-teen boy). Fortunately for me, the push mower died and Dad bought a Simplicity Lawn Tractor. This was a dream come true to ride this fancy grass clipping go-cart. When I was learning to mow with the lawn tractor, I had to make some pretty sharp turns on the steep terraced slopes of the back yard. A couple of times the tractor almost flipped over on me. My Dad quickly taught me to slide from the seat to ride the top edge of the uphill tire well while hanging on to the steering wheel to keep the mower from rolling over, kinda like those guys we saw racing in the sailboat regatta who were hanging off the rails of their boats to stay upright. How I didn’t lose a limb or appendage with that powerful lawn vehicle was simply because of God’s grace and mercy. Riding mowers we later equipped with a kill switch to stop the engine if you come out of the seat, but this was back in the era of no bike helmets and operating heavy mowing equipment with 36 inches of whirling sharp blades at your own risk. I had more fun on that riding mower. It was designed to stay shiny side up, but with some speed and a sharp wrong turn on the side of a hill I discovered that it could go dirty side up to my own detriment fairly easily.
But that is kinda the way I could be sometimes as a person who belonged to the Light. When I started following Jesus, I knew I was designed to stay shiny side up, to walk in the Light. But with a wrong turn here or there, in my anger, upset, or fear, I could just as easily reveal my dirty and dangerous side. I could easily forget that Jesus' people are made for shininess. Jesus reminded those who were following him to : “let your light shine before others,a that they may see your good deedsb and glorifyc your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16. He reminded them that they too were “the light of the world,” a title that was divinely His, that he bestowed on everyone who follows Him.
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!
