It was a beach day. The weather is ideal, the breeze is just right, the sand was warm and the waves were crashing in sync with my iPod’s current song…

It was that kind of day last week. When I found out work would be ending early, I packed my swimsuit, towel, sunscreen and sandals. The minute I was off, I drove straight to the beach. It was great. The sun was warm, but not so much that I was sweating… it felt good…

It didn’t feel good a few hours later when my back was bright red from the sun’s caress.

I’m fair skinned. When I go step foot in the sun, I use sunscreen, and reapply at the appropriate intervals. Judging by my resemblance to a lobster, I’d wager I didn’t reapply often enough that day.

At the time, it felt fine. On the drive home, it felt fine. But that night I was in HURTING!

I believe that sin is exactly the same.

Lately, God’s been pointing out areas in my life where sin that I deem “minor” are in discord with Him. It always seems like the tiny, insignificant things that trip me up the most: a lie to avoid hurt feelings, serving others for the wrong reasons, allowing disrespectful thoughts to take root in my heart. That is just what I’m struggling with right now. But each of those “small things” develop and increase and pile up, until I’m left wondering how everything snowballed so quickly.

I don’t believe sin just creeps up on people. I chose to put myself in the sun; I choose to allow myself into situations that I know tempt me towards sin. Each little thing seems pleasurable and harmless at the moment… but in the end, I’m burned.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” - Psalm 119: 9 – 11

To avoid sunburns, I reapply sunscreen. To avoid sins that trip me when I’m chasing God, I’ve been told to hide His word in my heart. As a child of God, I'm told to do more than just read His word, I'm told to "hide it" in my heart!

That means, for me... I have to go deeper than just reading it. More thorough than just reading to check it off on my To Do list. More earnestly than just reading and having no application. I'm to study, to read, to apply, to be saturated in Him. I'm to be washed by His word (Ephesians 5:26). It's to invade every area of my life, every crevice of who I am. I long for it. Not just once, but every day, every single moment, I need it to be reapplied to my heart, my mind, and my soul.

The sunburn has faded away. Time heals it naturally. But it is ONLY with the forgiveness of Christ that the burn and penalty of sin is healed.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23

My prayer is that you and I learn to apply and reapply the Word, so we avoid the burn of sin. May you become soaked and saturated with Him, as I learn to do the same.

By grace alone,
Casey

Word and Deed

“Hey you do the sign language at church right? I see you every Sunday morning…”

“Aren’t you the waitress at the BBQ restaurant down the street?”

“Weren’t you that interpreter from the conference two months ago?”

All of these questions were posed to me recently. All of them are true, all of them said in a very sweet manner. But let me be honest: I have no freakin’ clue about who these people are.

The church that I attended from fourth grade until the end of August has several thousand people, so when people recognized me, it was normal for me not to know who they are. But, the guy who told me he’d seen me signing was in my new church, where we have a little less than seventy people attending… but I’ve never seen the guy before. The couple who asked if I was a waitress – yeah, also no idea who they are. They didn’t even seem familiar, but they knew me. The one who asked about the conference – I don’t even remember that job except that there were Deaf people in the audience, the lights were too bright and I was precariously balanced for six hours.

So what’s my point?

These people noticed and remembered me for my actions. They remembered that I do ASL, that I am a server, and that I’m an interpreter. They recognized who I was based on my actions.

I think that’s how Christ wants us to be. Every action, every word, every move that I make should reflect Jesus to the people who see me. If I've known someone for six months and they don't know I follow Christ by my words/actions, they deserve an apology.

I don’t like speaking in public. I am not the type of girl that’s going to be standing on the corner preaching about the salvation of Jesus. It’s just not going to happen unless God gives me a personality switch – but I can still be a witness for Christ.

I want to live out the gospel. I want people to look at my actions and words, and be compelled to recognize that God is working in my life. It’s said that actions speak louder than words; if my actions match the actions of Jesus, they’ll be louder than any words I could ever vocalize.

It’s an awesome concept: being the gospel of Jesus instead of just talking about it. It’s a two-edged sword of course. When my actions don’t line up with Jesus, when I don’t represent him in how I live, I’m not showing Him to my friends.

This isn’t something I have mastered. I’m a continuous work in progress in matters of grace and faith. Will you pray for me, as I aim to suite my actions to my words? I’ll be sending up prayers for you, too.

"Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."

- St. Francis of Assisi

In word and deed,
Casey