My wife and I went on a little getaway to Whitestone Inn recently. It’s really a beautiful, relaxing place, and we found out just how much we both needed some rest (especially before the baby comes!)

Right outside of the window where we ate our meals there was a hummingbird feeder. They’re fun little birds to watch. The first day we were there, the feeder was empty, and the birds, not knowing that there was no liquid in the feeder, would approach only to leave in disgust. By the second day, the feeder was full of red-colored sugar water, which the birds love, and they were flying all around. There were actually two feeders, and probably a dozen birds total. Two birds stood out to me, though. They were guarding “their” feeder. They would not let any other birds drink any of the liquid that was in the feeder. Whenever another bird approached, the dominant bird would become like a dart, and with its long slender nose, fly directly at the threatening bird. It was a pretty funny sight to watch!

My wife and I were both struck by the ridiculousness of this fighting. There was more liquid in the feeder than would fit in all of the tiny stomachs of all of the hummingbirds combined! And when the feeder ran out, it would be soon filled again with the fresh liquid. Their selfishness was completely unwarranted because they would always be provided for by the workers at the inn. This wasn’t even something that the hummingbirds gathered themselves…it was provided for them free of charge, and in more abundance than they could consume.

You probably already see where I’m going with this. Isn’t it the same with us? How often do we become selfish with our ‘stuff’? We try to hoard it and protect it because, well, it’s ours! Or so we think. We’ve been the ones who have earned the money that’s bought it, right? “I need this extra _______ because of the line of work I’m in…I deserve this extravagant vacation…I need a bigger house, which costs way more money than I can afford…” The list goes on and on. Or maybe it isn’t ‘stuff’ that you’re selfish with. Maybe it’s your time that you’re selfish with. You have to protect it, making sure that you spend it ‘wisely’ on things that will profit you, entertain you, serve you, benefit you. Time is short, right? You can never get it back. “Don’t waste your time.”

But is our ‘stuff’ really ours? Is our time really ours? Do we truly have ownership of it? “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) In this context, Paul is saying that it makes no sense for Christians to commit sexual immorality because, when we received Christ in faith for our salvation, our bodies were united with him. How can our bodies then be united with “a prostitute” (6:15)? It makes no sense in Paul’s mind how these two things could be united. He goes on to say that, because we are united with Christ, our bodies are no longer our to do what we want with them. Our bodies have been bought with a price (Christ did not just die to save our souls, but our bodies as well), and that price was the life of Christ.  Having ‘stuff’ and enjoying ‘time’ is not inherently wrong.  It’s wrong when you are mastered by it (see 1 Corinthians 6:12).

The hummingbirds have been mastered by their stomachs.  Let them remind us that Christ died to redeem our bodies, and that He is our true master.  Their idolatry should point us to the cross, and show us that following anything or anyone other than Christ is foolish.

So my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to save a few bucks on some furniture for the office in our home by buying it unfinished. Sounds like a good plan, right? I mean, it can’t be that much trouble to stain and paint a desk and chair. That’s what I thought.

To make the story shorter, I’m not good at painting or staining.

We bought the things a few months ago and I’ve just gotten around to finishing them. I’m not good at it, I don’t enjoy it, it took up a lot of room in our garage, it made a mess of the floor (well, I should probably go ahead and claim that as my fault), and it caused a fair amount of stress because of how long it took for me to finally finish.

But isn’t this sometimes how the Christian life goes? It’s not easy, it takes up a lot of “space” in our life (as if it’s ours in the first place!), it’s messy, stressful, and not fun. Often, God calls us to do things that we don’t want to do. Don’t believe me? Read Matthew 18:21-22: “Then Peter came to him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven! I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.’” Imagine if someone sinned against you in the same way seven times in one day. That’s pretty rough, right? Peter’s no slouch. He’s saying he’ll forgive a person seven times in the same day for the same sin. But Jesus completely blows him (and us) out of the water by saying that you are to forgive a person, not just seven times, but seventy times seven! You can do the math if you want, but it’s more likely that Jesus is using this number metaphorically. I don’t think he intends for us to actually keep a record of the times that people sin against us. The thought here is to forgive…and forgive…and forgive…and forgive…etc. The reason we are to forgive is rooted in God’s forgiveness of us, first of all.  We offer grace and forgiveness to others because we realize that we are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness.  Secondly, we offer forgiveness because judgment is coming.  After the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-34), Jesus says that God will not forgive us if we do not forgive our brothers from our heart.

This verse causes me to lose sleep at night.

If you get nothing else from this blog post, catch this.  We’re to called to forgive others because we feel like it. If we were to wait until we felt like forgiving people, most of us would never get around to it.  We’re called to forgiveness whether we feel like it or not because God has forgiven us, and our debt to Him was beyond anything that any person could ever “owe” us.

Forgiveness is only one example of something that God calls me to do that I often don’t want to do.  But I do it, trusting that He knows what He’s doing (it’s usually a good idea to trust a God who created the earth and rose from the dead, neither of which I can do).

So, ultimately, I’m glad that I bought the unpainted furniture.  I saved some money, I am proud that I finished it, and it looks good in our office.  It also pointed me to my relationship with God.  What’s He calling you to do today?

Do you want to do it?