Mom

by Pastor Steph

My mom spent much of the month of February with us. Before you ask, “How’s Marty,” I’ll tell you…he’s great! We all are. Mom came in and did all the heavy lifting for us. She washed the clothes. Folded the clothes. Ironed the clothes and put them away. She picked up the groceries, decided what to make for dinner, made the dinner, and did the dishes too. She picked the kids up. Dropped kids off. Played grandma games with the kids while mom and dad had a date night. She dusted, vacuumed, and mopped the floors. You guys, she cleaned my bathrooms! She did all the things so that we could do all the other things. It was glorious. I felt lighter. Relaxed. More free than I’d felt in awhile all because mom was doing the heavy lifting. She was standing in the gap for me and my house.

Jesus does this for us all of the time. He stands in the gap for you and for me and he does ALL the heavy lifting. He liberates us from sin and death so that we are freed to live into our joy and purpose. This means we can do all the things that give us life and stop worrying about all the other things that weigh us down. When we are free from the powers of sin and the sting of death, we feel lighter. We feel more relaxed. More blessed than stressed because we know someone else is bearing the weight of the burdens of life upon His shoulders. The prophet Isaiah writes:

“ Surely He bore our suffering, and carried the weight of our sin.
He was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.”

Christ Jesus stands in the gap between death and life so that we might have life abundant and life eternal. It is glorious! It is great! This is the good news of the gospel. May you experience liberation from the things that are heavy by casting your cares upon him. He does care for you. And may you, who lives freely in this grace, stand in the gap for someone else who needs to experience the hands and feet of Jesus through the body of Christ.  It might not be a month cleaning someone else’s bathroom, (thanks mom), but I dare you to lift someone up through an act of Christ-like service and love.

-- Pastor Steph

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