Spill!

Let me ask you a few questions today.  What is your take on the people that you interact with every day?  What do you feel is your place or responsibility toward them?  Is there a difference with the manner in which you present yourself to the members of your family, to those in your church or to those with whom you work with?  I have known of many who would answer a resounding yes to the above questions.  I’ve always hoped that I would see no difference in the way I acted in any of those environments.

Through the years though, I have had a few reality checks.  Like the time when my oldest son was hired as a temporary employee at Agilent Technologies in the same building, on the same floor and on the same shift that I worked as a supervisor in the Machine Shop.  Although we were in different divisions, we still saw a lot of each other, and I personally knew his supervisor and many of his co-workers.  It actually was a great experience, but it sure made me aware of the way I carried myself on the job. 

Another opportunity presented itself when a few members of our church were also hired at Agilent.  (Agilent was the largest private employer in the county at the time with well over 3000 employees in three different sites.)  At first I was tempted to be a little embarrassed when these individuals would address me as “Pastor” whenever we saw each other.  But I quickly got over that as I realized that I was always open as to my faith and my position within the body of Christ on the job, and that it probably wasn’t shocking news to those who may have over-heard them.  If anything, being addressed that way in front of my team or in the cafeteria or in the hallways opened additional doors for me to share Jesus and His ways with others at work.  Over the years at Hewlett Packard/Agilent I had numerous opportunities to minister to hurting individuals who actually approached me for assistance.

Romans 12:8-9 teaches us that “If you come with sympathy to (those who) sorrow, bring God’s sunlight in your face.  Let there be no pretense about your love.” (The Letters of St Paul to Seven Churches and three friends with the Letter to the Hebrews – Arthur S. Way)  While the context of this particular exhortation was to the church, it also holds a truth to the way we carry ourselves everywhere we go.  I personally believe that as Christians, we have a responsibility to bring God’s sunlight with us when we go out in public.  In fact, it shouldn’t necessarily even be something we think about when we walk out the door.  We should be so filled up with His love that it is just a natural part of who we are to the world.  If we are comfortable with who we are in Him and in what He has done for us, then His sunlight should simple be an overflow to those around us.

Think about that as you walk in your world today.  Get excited about “spilling” His sunlight on others!  Watch for their expressions of trouble and sorrow to visibly change in your presence.  Then as the doors open up, share just why you are the way you are!  Have a wonderful day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What (or) Who am I expecting to SPILL ON today?”