looking up and at...

looking up and at

It is a very human thing (even more so today)
to assign labels to everything, including people.
Oh, he believes this or that and therefore he is...
People are enigmatic and more complicated than that.
To say that because I like a particular ball player
that just happens to play for this team or that,
then I am a fan of that ball club is just narrow-minded at best...
and to say that because I like his defense,
I also like his offense is also wrong...
or to say that because I like him as a ball player,
I also like his taste in automobiles is ridiculous.
To say that I like a particular quote and "what it says to me"
is nothing more than revering the man, is also wrong...
Here is a quote, for example... "I know God exists." - Satan.
This does not mean I revere Satan... far, far from it.
When Jesus met with a prostitute, or a tax-collector,
or any number of others, He looked at where their heart was,
and with only the authority that He has,
told them where they were wrong,
let them to continue making their own choice
and continued to love them unconditionally.
That does not say that we should not
let them know where we stand, or what we believe,
but to do so in love, and to pray that "we all"
do God's will in God's time, and not our will on our timetable.

If you must put a label on me,
call me a sinner, for that is what I am.
I am at the foot of the cross, at its very base.
Do not try to elevate me or think
I desire to be elevated by any of you or to elevate myself.
I am only one who wants to spend more time
looking up and at, rather than down and/or away.
And should the Lord, in His grace, lift me up,
I pray that each and every one of us
will be raised up together.