Taking Inventory
by Marla Roth
"Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s
sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what
Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." (Romans 5:1)
Just before the Christmas holiday, in the offices of LIFE Outreach International, you see people finishing end-of-year tasks. My job in the television department is to coordinate the audience attending the weekly Life Today tapings. In all the departments, not just television, people are cleaning out drawers and shelves, organizing files, ordering materials for next year… taking inventory.
By December, my normal work pace has slowed, but my office is overcrowded with information and materials related to each show we produced. So now I'm going through files, trying to decide which ones to keep, which ones to toss out. Books filled with inspiring material, written by LIFE Today's wonderful guests, crowd my shelves, but I need to make room for the bestsellers of 2006.
As I sit here, crossed legged on the floor, trying to decide what to do with all of the books, their titles draw me in, begging me not to throw them out. I thumb through each book, noticing the ones that were passed around the office; their tattered pages speak volumes.
It doesn’t surprise me that the most worn material focuses on issues in relationships: marriage, parenting, loving and forgiving. The neon colors of highlighted sentences, paragraphs, even entire pages reveal the personal struggle and focus of the readers. As I scanned one particular book, I realized that I, too, could break out my highlighter.
All at once, like a light bulb flipped on, I think... Maybe this is not the time to be concerned about organization--maintaining the outer appearance so my life looks put together. Perhaps this is the time to take inventory of the files filled with unforgiveness, selfishness, bitterness and sin that sit on the shelves of my soul. What better time?
Usually, this kind of enlightenment comes at the first of the year when we make half-hearted resolutions to change for the better. But I feel I should do it now... when the focus is on life and all the change Christ brings.
I will take inventory in my soul and review what God holds dear. Then I can present me…put together by His touch on the inside and the outside. What a great Christmas gift for the people I adore.
This Week
Make it your priority to take inventory of your soul. Be reconciled with the Lord and with others.
Prayer
"Jesus, Son of God, forgive me. Clean out the old files--the old chapters that taint my heart. I trust you to replace it with your gift of supernatural love that was birthed through the Babe in a manger."
