   Our pastor is a prankster. In his younger years he had a sweet idea. While his father Lenny was away at work he and his sister pulled apart all the Oreos and ate the middle then placed them back together. His father later ate the cookies without realizing the middle was missing!
    This reminds me of all the times I have mindlessly partook of life while missing the best part! My days seem hurried as I complete chores and projects. I pray, read, study, write, teach, tend to my mother, grocery shop, clean, cook, wash clothes, and sometimes keep my grandkids. I consume life, but am I mindlessly missing the middle?
  Do I focus on my Savior as I work and serve each day? I’m afraid the answer is sometimes no. Failing to minister to my husband, my mom, my grandkids, and others as I should seems an all too common occurance. Keeping Christ my focus insures he is central in all I do.
   While writing and teaching, it is important to convey the love of Jesus; productivity is not enough. People need genuine compassion and empathy with a life changing message.
    Does the core of my belief in Jesus show as I grocery shop and run errands in my community? Feeding my inner man through prayer, Bible study, and obedience insures I convey my witness to others. Jesus is the missing piece for many. Do they see Him in me?Â
  Let’s not miss opportunity to focus on Christ, love like Jesus, and exhibit our core beliefs. Jesus has made a way for us to draw nigh to God our Father through his shed blood on Calvary. He stands in the middle between us and His Father to intercede and enable us to live meaningful lives. Jesus is the middle in all we do. Let’s not miss Him!
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 2:13-14
My long list of responsibilities looks similar to yours, Lisa, and I confess, I’m sometimes overwhelmed. Thank you for this inspiring message to remind me not to live on the edges and miss the sweet middle–Jesus, our Savior, the most important part of our lives. In the middle, He intercedes for us on a regular basis, the gift of salvation–the gift of life–and our daily guide to living in the Light.
Katherine, I wrote this from my own struggle. My busy life hinders me too often and I understand overwhelmed!
Especially love this one!!
Thank you sweet friend!
Mindlessly missing the middle. I love your analogy here as too often we don’t live in the moment but simply muddle through. How clever to think of Jesus as the middle of life! He absolutely should be!
Candyce, muddle through is a great way to express what I do some days. Too many tasks can easily distract me. I find myself missing ministry opportunities.
Thanks for this wonderful reminder. It is so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of life that we miss the whole purpose of our being. After our time with God, ministering to others is more important than anything else we can do.
Barbara. tasks so easily distract causing me to miss my purpose each day. This post was for me persoanlly before sharing with others.
Lisa, I sometimes become so task-oriented, I miss the middle. Your illustration will stick in my mind as I go about the rest of my tasks this week. Thank you for reminding us to focus on Christ and others.
Jeannie, Oreos evolk a visual memory to remember! This story stuck in my head as a daily reminder to stay focused on Christ and others so I shared.
What a beautiful message. Thank you for helping me re-focus my attention today on what I have been missing.
Thank you Alicia, I need this reminder myself and I’m glad it evolkes the need to re-focus.
I definitely feel like sometimes I live on autopilot. I so desire to focus on God how I should. I fall on His grace to slow down and do so. God can get me there.
I understand. Focus requires prayer, Bible reading, and looking for opportunities to witness and be the light. This sounds simple but busy tasks often pull us away from Christ focused living.