Of Shirt Creases and Ironing Boards

"So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

Matthew 5: 23, 24

I have a crease in my shirt. And it was brought to my notice in the most embarrassing fashion.

"Chief, my colleagues where laughing at you", my house officer said. "They said you did not iron your shirt."

"But I did!" I protested.

"Well, that line is showing", he said, as he ran his index finger up and down in the direction of the defect. He was referring to that crease my shirt got from hugging the clothesline for one long night as it dried. And sure enough, there it was, smack-dab in the middle of my back. This was definitely not the kind of information I needed since I was already having a bad-clothes-day. I had indeed ironed my shirt, well enough I thought at the time, but this one had escaped the scalding heat of the iron's blade.

I wonder what other creases there are in my life. Everything else may be looking nice and crisp, but when those annoying strips show up, they can cause me such embarrassment and make a mess of everything good I may have done.

What about you? You may have everything nice and straightened out. Your job, straightened out. Your education, straightened out. Your kids, straightened out. Your relationships, straightened out… mostly. But there are often those few creases which we pretend not to notice until they show up and bite us in the bum.

Take a minute to consider now, how are your relationships with the people around? Is there something you need to take care of now? Forgiveness you need to offer? An apology you owe? A word of comfort you have not given?

Here's where to start - on God's own ironing board. Take the matter to God in prayer, then go ahead and do something about it. So long as you ignore it, it will fester and grow and stick out like a sore thumb. Only when we address these issues will they take the back seat so everyone can see how truly lovely is the shirt on our backs.

With love, Doosuur.

My Second Birthday

All the days ordained for me where written in your book before one of them came to be

Psalm 139:16

Today is my "second" birthday. Or maybe I should call it my deathday. You see, today, 14 years ago, I was saved from what could very easily have been a fatal accident. Every year, when November 15 comes around I have opportunity to reflect upon life and what it has come to mean for me.

One thing I have learned is that life must be lived "on purpose". No drifting through, one day after the other. There is a reason why each of us is here and we must, on a daily basis, find it out and live it.

As I celebrate life, let me share with you some of my favorite scriptures and what they mean to me.

He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil - this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied and water will not fail him.

Isaiah 33:15,16

This scripture first caught my attention while I was reading through the Bible as a teenager. It's promise of security and provision for the man who "walks right" is something to look forward to, a verse to live by.

Your GOD is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.

Zephaniah 3:17

No verse quite captures God's sense of delight in me as His child as this one does. I can just imagine him singing with joy over me. Quite a comfort.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

There again is that magic word, "purpose". I believe that I have been called "according to God's purpose" which means I'm a part of His plan. Now, because of that, do you know what God is willing to do for me? He will work out all things for my good. All things! All things! There are no superlatives to describe how I feel when the truth of this promise grabs ahold of me.

Join me to celebrate God's gift of life today.

With love, Doosuur