by Shawn Maassel
When I cue my fitness classes to ‘breathe’ or ‘watch their positioning,’ it’s usually because I just mentally told myself the same thing. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience of ‘self-conviction’ while preparing your sermons, children’s or chapel messages, classroom or Sunday school lessons.
The Children’s Message I shared in worship this past Sunday did just that. The readings (Proper 27 of Year B in our Three-Year Lectionary) made me think of puzzles. And my message convicted me of offering God a puzzle with missing pieces.
In our Gospel, Jesus noted that while the scribes acted pious, in truth, they were thinking about themselves, not God or other people. They were like puzzles with missing pieces. (Mark 12:38-39) Withholding parts of their lives, they did what they wanted to do, not what God wanted them to do.
But the two widows we read about in I Kings 17 and later in Mark 12 gave everything they had. They trusted God’s promises and provision and withheld nothing from His grasp and control. They were like complete puzzles. No piece of their lives was withheld or missing.
Our wellness journeys include many varied aspects of our one life from God. He has gifted us these aspects, and He wants it all. He wants to use all our pieces to create His masterpiece.
Maybe you have no problem devoting the spiritual aspect of your life to Jesus’ lordship, but when it comes to Friday afternoon (or whatever day ends YOUR work week) your mental, physical, and social plans focus on what you ‘get to do’ regardless of whether they fit God’s design for health, well-being, and good stewardship. You are left with choices that exclude God’s wisdom and direction, failing to reflect whole-hearted love for Him. Puzzle pieces are missing.
Or maybe you are so focused on daily ministerial tasks that you neglect to care for your physical body. Planning nutritious meals or getting in a healthy dose of movement or rest goes by the wayside. Puzzle pieces are missing.
The list goes on.
Presenting a complete puzzle, with all of its pieces to the Lord takes trust and discipline. We can’t perfectly love God on our own, but thanks be to God, through Jesus we have forgiveness when we fail. Jesus paid the price for all our missing parts when He paid for our sins on the cross.
Releasing our grip on the puzzle pieces of our lives and entrusting them to the Master Creator (and Puzzle-Completer,) will ensure that our lives are well, and our witness is strong.
(The Lutheran Study Bible has a good article, “Living the Wholly Christian Life” tucked into James on p. 2138.)