My wife left me, well, for a few days as she went on a trip. I had our two boys, and my job was to be Daddy. I have been a father for a while now. This is old hat. And, what’s more, it was only the boys. Our daughter was off with my wife, so the job was easier. Spaghetti, pizza, and whatever Chef Mike is making for Wednesdays Together. Probably a shower, at least before mom came home and smelled her boys. Keep all the fingers and toes attached. My job is simple.

With this easy job facing me I still asked a friend for advice. If he had any tips and tricks. What I received was obvious and a real help. It wasn't advice from on high. It was advice from the trenches. You know, imminently useful stuff. And, indeed, it was useful. The first morning went a little faster than I had anticipated. Getting myself, the dogs and the kids up and out took a little more than I planned, but I received and applied that good advice. I’m proud to tell you, as of the writing of this blog, all my children are surviving. Don’t judge; we do well to take the wins where they come. 

Sometimes, like the advice I got, being reminded of what we know is very useful. The reminder, like the advice, makes it top of mind and easier somehow. 

What we do reflects our faith. What we do becomes a part of the metanarrative of Christ. A kind of living Gospel. When the Holy Spirit came, people devoted their lives to Christ. People who had never known Christ called him their Lord and savior. People who had no Bible or Word of God believed that the Word was made flesh and that transformed lives. They committed themselves because of those who came before them. It was the lives of the Christians, how they lived, how they acted, that convinced others that this Jesus is the Christ. 

How you live and act makes the argument to those around you whether your God is better than their god. How you talk exposes what you believe. To what you dedicate your time and to what you sacrifice your schedule all support or deny the claim that your God has something to offer them that they can get anywhere else. What is offered is more valuable than anything else. If your life looks like everyone else’s, and the only difference is what you do on a Sunday morning, then there isn’t a difference. 

Here’s my advice: decide now what are the ways you will live for God. How you will not conform to the ways of the world, or better yet, how you will bring our LORD into the every day. 

There are lots of requirements and expectations but “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5:6)