Jesus and Ants

As I was sweeping the kitchen floor today, I swept up an ant. The ant immediately tried to scurry out of my dirt pile, so....

I squished it with my big toe. 

Instantly I had the thought, "Jesus, what would You do with an ant in your house?" 

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.

Psalms 104:24

I imagined seeing something I created in the wrong spot. Certainly I wouldn't just squish it because it was out of place. No. I would pick it up and gently move it back to where it belonged. I would set up barriers to make sure it stayed where it belonged; where it was safe. 

I started to giggle a little to myself. I thought, 'How silly this is. Thinking about God and ants. Asking God what He would do with a straying ant.'

But is this what it means to live fully integrated? To be all in for Christ? In every way; in all things I will seek to honor God and serve Him. 

In the past I have sprayed around the house. Set up a barrier, so to speak. Something to keep the ants out where they belong; where they won't get squished. It doesn't kill them, it just keeps them from crossing.

I haven't sprayed this year because I've been very conscience of my health. I've heard those sprays are not healthy for me, so I was protecting myself. Instead I was squishing the ants that wandered into my house. I was putting piles of attractive poison in ant prone spots. Harmless poison to me, but poison that ants take back to their nest and kill all who inhabit it. 

But would it be more self-sacrificing to spray the barrier around the house to protect the ants from getting squished? Is that a better way for me to serve Jesus? 

Everything you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

Sanctity of Life Prayer

January 22, 1973, was the day the US Supreme Court legalized abortions and that date has been remembered as Sanctity of Life Day. Some churches remember it on the third Sunday in January. Either way, and in fact, every day, is a day we can praise God for life, and pray that He protects the souls in His creation at every stage of life. Today and this week, I ask you to especially pray for the people whose lives hang in the balance; whether on life support or in a womb; terminally ill or feeling unwanted - may the Lord remind them Who created them. May the people who can make decisions about their future remember how precious life is. 

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be. 

-Psalm 139:13-16

Pray also for the people who have made decisions already and regret them. May they find peace in the forgiveness of Jesus and love from their neighbors. Please pray specifically for the teenagers in Albany (Logan and his girlfriend) who followed the logic of what they've been taught - the easiest thing to do with an unwanted baby is kill her. Pray that they see the forgiveness that Jesus has won for them.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 

-Psalm 130:3-4

Pray also for our communities, our society. May we love and forgive Logan. May we see clearly where an abortion culture leads. May we be opened armed to all those struggling to view life, all life, as a blessing. 

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. -Ephesians 4:32

Pray that we may not be silent, but will be God's messengers, spreading His truth to a world that so desperately needs Him. We are warriors in the battle.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. -Proverbs 31:8