A Revelation...(What do Martians and obsessions with how we look have in common?)

This morning, I was challenged with teaching a roomful of teenagers.  This may sound easier than it is.  Imagine trying to contain about ten puppies in a basket.  You put one in and before you turn around another one is out of the basket.  So picture a room of squirming, fidgeting, hard to impress teenagers with their 'tell me something I don't know' eyes focused on me.  We were discussing how we measure ourselves against others around us instead of by God.  Our Scripture reference was Romans 8:29.  It said that we should be like Jesus.  Continue picturing the roomful of teenager puppies.  They are repeating whatever I say.  Me-"We should be like Jesus."  Them-"Jesus, yes."  Me-"You were made by God.  Look to Him for acceptance."  Them-"Acceptance, yes."  Me- "Stop putting your arms around the person in the row behind you and take that fidget spinner out of your nose."  Them-"Fidget spinner, yes."  Do you get the idea?  I thought I might have to beat my head on the wall in frustration.  Nothing seemed to be getting through to them.  Then a picture popped into my head.  Have you ever seen the movie, The Martian.  It was about a guy on Mars who was stranded and had to live on Mars until a rescue could take place.  With excitement, I created a verbal picture of how Mars might have looked.  I spoke of the difficult terrain and the hostile environment in which Matt Damon had to live. (Also, on a side note, my son felt it important to repeat Matt Damon's name every time I spoke it.  Teenagers...Aaahhhhh!)  I mentioned how important the space suit was for his survival.  Without the suit, he couldn't live on Mars.  But when he was rescued and returned to earth, he didn't need the space suit any longer.  I then connected this imagery to our lives on earth.  Our bodies are our space suits.  We need them to live on this hostile planet.  Without our
"earth suit" bodies, we would no longer be able to live on this earth.  However, this is not our home.  Heaven is where we are destined, and inside that earth suit is our soul.  When we reach home, we no longer need the body.  Our soul lives on in Heaven.  Now picture if Matt Damon had decided to spend all of his time focusing on his space suit on Mars instead of taking care of what went inside the space suit.  Imagine him bedazzling his space suit, putting lipstick on his helmet, and trying to decrease air in the suit so he appears smaller.  It would be absurd.  Now don't get me wrong.  He wants to take care of the suit because it allows him to stay on Mars, but the suit is not his obsession.  Keeping the man on the inside alive and finding a way home was his focus.  Let's bring it back, literally, to earth.  Our earth suit is just that.  It keeps us here.  Why do we focus so much on it?  We want to keep it healthy because it keeps us here, but then we let the person on the inside (our soul) slowly die.  We should be keeping our soul healthy and thinking about our way "home" one day.  With all of the tragedies going on around us, lot of people are currently thinking about death and eternity.  Whether I put on twenty pounds or take off twenty pounds is unimportant when I think about eternity.  Whether my soul inside my earth suit is healthy and ready for my ride home to Heaven is all important.  So do I compare myself to others around me because they are more talented, look better, or have more money.  Absolutely not!  It's comparing space suits.  I want the person on the inside to look just like Jesus.  After all, we are related.  Have a great week, high-heeled warriors!

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