Through The Bars

Ephesians 4:1 -- "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."

image: barbsfitublog.wordpress.com

Stacked up in great piles were shiney shades of bright red, green, yellow, and any combination of the three reflecting the neon ceiling lights in a brilliant rainbow. The colors in the produce section of my local Publix never cease to amaze me. And the sheer number of apples stacked in precarious pyramids astounds. Just look at them all the next time you're in there!

And don't even get me started on the citrus fruits! I had no idea there were so many different species of oranges! ... ...

... ... Squinting into the bright morning, Daddy and I dodged Davao traffic to reach the tiny little closet of a space nestled amid a whole row of tiny little closet-sized store fronts. It was a special occasion - it was my birthday. Every year on this day, Daddy took me to the quaint little grocery mart just so the sweet store owner could hand Daddy a brown paper bag.

Not just ANY brown paper bag. A very special one - that I could only open once we were back in the car. I couldn't wait to be seated in the powder blue Range Rover so I could indulge in my birthday treat. The excitement of it was almost too much to bear!

Inside that little bag was a big shiny red apple and a glorious, sweating can of American Coca-cola! Two things that could not be found by normal means on the streets of Davao City, Philippines. But somehow [we won't ask how] every year on my birthday the kind little store owner managed to find these two things just for me. He never did it for Mom or Dad or Karla - for some magical and wonderful reason - it was only for MY birthday.

The two seemingly mundane things in that crinkled brown bag were extra precious to me. The apple was always somehow the best apple I'd ever tasted and the Coke had to have been produced from an extraordinary and magical batch of Coca-cola and then hidden away in some fairy-tale hillside.

... ... As the Publix bagger placed my case of regular Coca-cola on the side of my grocery cart to walk me to the car - it occurred to me how very much I take for granted now that I'm all grown up and back in the States. I couldn't help but think about that special brown paper bag and the feel of my Dad's hand firmly and safely wrapped around mine as we dodged jeepney's and mopeds on crowded streets. Every birthday was a grand occasion and every single apple was a cherished treat.

As Paul sat in jail writing his letter to the church in Ephesus he expressed the honor he felt that he could pen his Savior's name from the grimy prison floor. In those moments he wasn't feeling sorry for himself or pacing the floor, frustrated with the hold-up in his ministry. [I would] He was very humbly and very simply grateful that he still had air enough in his lungs to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. He didn't complain. [How could he NOT complain?!]

image: "Paul's Cell" Pilgrimthomas/TravelPod/ www.tripadvisor.com

For that reason - his words to us are even more precious. His attitude is even more astounding when you consider from whence his words were being shared. He encouraged his brothers in Ephesus not from a grand pulpit or a solid cobbled town square - but from a rat and flea infested cubby-hole surrounded by the stench of human filth. His sentiments were special - like the apple and the coke gifted to me on my birthday in the Philippines.

Paul's message is beautiful.

So when Paul encourages us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received - I think not that I should behave as a prince dressed in the royal robes befitting an adopted heir of Heaven's mansions - but instead, I think of humility. I think of gratitude and true appreciation. I think of the so very many things with which I have been blessed and continuously take for granted.

Like big fat red apples and a case of Coke.

Like air conditioned church buildings with padded seats - like street lights and posted speed limits signs - like quicky-marts and self-serve gas stations ... like Keureg Coffee makers and individual packets of artificial sweetener - like insulin pens and the abundance of soft-bristled tooth brushes.

Like the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

I get to blog about the love or our Savior from my beat-up office chair in the comfort of my own home on a computer hooked up to the internet. I get to daily read the Word of God from more than one translation sitting on my bookshelf. And if I have a prayer request - I have but to post it on the social media of my choice or pick up my smart phone and dial up a friend.

How richly blessed are we? ... How very richly blessed?

Suddenly being content in the calling of my Savior takes on a whole new meaning - and I am reminded of simple, abounding and unending JOY.