Welcome to the Set Your Mind Above podcast, where every day, ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths! I am your host BJ Sipe, and I’m so glad you’ve tuned in today! I am excited to share my life & my faith with you, and I sure hope you’ll do the same with me along the way.
Alright, I’ve got to tell on myself a little bit today. You ever have one of those times where you tell yourself, “I’m too young to be having this problem?” Well, I had one of those problems last night. Let me build the story for you. We always have a Wednesday evening Bible Study with our church family, but last evening my wife was going to keep Dane home because he wasn’t feeling well, so it was just going to be me and Ava. That already had me a little frazzled because I’m trying to prep for my class, get her to her class, run downstairs to pick her up after my class, and keep an eye on her afterwards because I had other things to do. Luckily, we have a lot of help from so many families at the church with our kids, so that wasn’t so bad. We made our way into the building and I started my rounds of talking to people I needed to talk to before running Ava down to her class. In that process, I was told by one of our members, “Don’t run off right afterwards, we’ve got some bread for you guys to take home.” “Thanks, that’s so kind!” I replied, then continued on with my next task before class. Well after classes had concluded and I wrapped up everything I needed to do we said our goodbyes and Ava & I headed for the car. Sitting on the dash of my car was a fresh homemade loaf of zucchini bread, I had forgotten all about it! We got home and I called Jonathan Leber to thank his wife Kristi for the bread. “Hey BJ, I appreciate the call, but we didn’t make it.” What?!? I was certain it was the Lebers I had that conversation with…suddenly I had the realization that I could not remember at all who I had this conversation with. I looked at them dead in the face, I mean locked eyes, and had this conversation about bread before class…and it’s completely blank in my memory! I cannot for the life of me come up with who it was – I’ve even called several other people and each of them said it wasn’t them either! So far I’m 0-3, and I will have to keep you updated on who it actually was and how many people it took before I find out. I just want to tell them thank you for the wonderful gift they gave us, and boy do I mean wonderful – that bread was delicious! We don’t want to appear ungrateful, so we most certainly want to find out who did it so that we can thank them properly. But that’s just it – I should know who it was, but for some reason my memory is just completely shot. As I started out, I’m too young to be having this problem, but here I am. So, if you’re listening to this podcast and it happens to be you that were the generous souls that gave us this blessed loaf, please let me know!
Christianity has been described as one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. I have always loved this expression, and it has direct application to us today. In actuality, all of us have been offered bread as a gift, but probably not how you’re thinking. Jesus would stand up and teach in the synagogue at Capernaum, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:48-51) This bread that is offered to us is not something that offers us physical sustenance, but spiritual. While the children of Israel would be given the gift of mana in the wilderness, they would eat of that bread but become hungry again. But whoever would receive this bread that Jesus offers would never be hungry again – they would be satisfied. Not only this, one who receives this bread would never die – and that bread is Jesus himself. Jesus offers himself to us, as he freely permitted his life to be laid down on the cross on our behalf. In doing so, Jesus has given us hope of eternal life, salvation from sin, peace with God, and purpose in our lives. Without this bread, you will surely die in your sins. Knowing this, let me ask you this question: what beggar would not turn and give lifelong gratitude to one who would give him bread & all things he could ever need freely as a gift? Can you imagine someone being so ungrateful for such an incredible gift? Well here is the deal: we are that beggar, and Jesus is the bread – have you thanked him for what he has done? I don’t mean once, I mean do you live your life in a manner that gives ongoing praise to the one that freed you from sin and death? I am reminded of the story told in Luke 17 of the 10 lepers that Jesus heals, and yet only one returned to give thanks to Jesus for what he had done. Only one. These other 9 men had their lives forever changed by the work of Jesus & his healing. It was not as though they did not remember or know who did this to them, they knew full & well it was Jesus. And yet, they gave no thanks, no gratitude, and showed no humility in returning to their healer to give praise. I must confess that many times in my life I would probably be grouped with he 9 more often than the 1. God’s blessings are new every day, and each day he restores our soul and gives us healing through Jesus Christ. Every day I have a hope of heaven because of him. Every day I have access to every spiritual blessing because of him. Every day I can live free of judgment and free to walk by the Spirit because of him. But do I thank him every day? Do I praise him every day? Or has enough time passed by since I was first given the bread of life that I just take for granted the blessings of God each day? From one beggar to another, don’t forget to turn and thank Jesus today for everything that he has done for you in your life. He is worthy of our praise yesterday, today, and everyday forevermore.
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Friday’s, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above!