What a wonderful day of worship, Father. Thank You for Your inspiration and most importantly for Your presence. May Your words resonate through our hearts and into our lives. Amen.
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This past weekend, I came across a story that was shared by a friend on Facebook.
A good friend of mine unexpectedly lost his wife. A couple of months later we were golfing together, chatting about nothing. He asked what my dinner plans were, and I told him wifey wanted my homemade chili and cornbread, but I didn’t feel like stopping at the store. We golfed a few more minutes when he quietly said, “Make the chili.”
It took me a few minutes to realize we were no longer talking about dinner. It was about going out of your way to do something for someone you love because they could unexpectedly be taken from you at any moment. So today I’m sharing with you that wisdom handed to me by my dear friend, that I’ve thought of many times since that day. Next time someone you love wants you to go for a walk, watch a football game, play a board game, or just put your phone down and give them your undivided attention, just do it. “Make the chili”
The story, in and of itself, is poignant, but it is even more so because she and I share a mutual friend who lost her life several months ago due to complications from open heart surgery. I was good friends with our mutual friend, but their relationship went to another whole level. I think it went even beyond the level of best friends. They weren’t related but called one other sister. Saying they were close would be a gross understatement.
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied in Mark 12:30-31,
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” NLT
The first is from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and the second is from Leviticus 19:18. They’re not some new-fangled concept. They stood at the very core of what it meant to follow the Creator God of the universe. Simply put we are to love Him and love others.
Sometimes it can be far less complicated to love our “neighbor”. That can be accomplished in any number of ways. Friends might fit into that category as well. And those kinds of relationships are special in so many ways.
But what about those closest to us…our family – spouses, children, siblings, parents. It’s so easy to take them for granted. But as the story so clearly pointed out, there are no guarantees in life. We and our loved ones may live for many, many years or it can come to an end in the blink of an eye. Do not let opportunities slip through your fingers like the sands of time through an hourglass…make the chili.
Aug 27th, 2023, Sun, 9:01 pm
