There’s a unique building in our community – in fact, it’s referred to as the “world’s only.” This building is decorated annually with items, corn, other grains, and grasses, that are produced right here in our area. Plus, the decorations on the outside and inside of this building form pictures or murals made out of these area “crops.” Yes, we all know it well. This building I am referring to is our own world’s only Corn Palace.
Each year we here in this community get to watch as the transformation takes place with the old murals coming down and the new ones going up. And again, the pictures are totally designed to be made up of corn and the “other grains and grasses” grown from the area.
With this in mind, the other day as I was looking at the corn palace the thought came to mind, “What are the pictures that the materials from my life are creating, that others see?” The truth is, whether we like it or not, our lives are telling a story, just like the murals on the corn palace tell a story. This past year the corn palace’s theme was “Scenes from the Big Top.” This year’s theme is “Famous South Dakotans.” But again, the question to consider is, “What are the pictures that the materials from my life are creating, that others see?”
We maybe don’t always realize it, but our lives do tell a story. In fact, we each have certain natural talents, we have gifts and abilities, we have spiritual gifts given by God, we have personality traits, we have life experiences, we have intelligence traits, we have strengths, as Jesus followers we have the Fruit of the Spirit, etc. We have all these things, and so much more, that all goes into creating the pictures or murals about who we are and what is important to us. And these pictures that are created by what is “produced” in and from our lives; these pictures are available for the rest of the world to see.
Recently I was listening to a sermon on life. The pastor was speaking about the Fruit of the Spirit. The preacher made the comment that the Fruit of the Spirit are an overflow of God’s Spirit at work in our lives. An overflow…I like that. In fact, I believe that the pictures others see about our lives are indeed an “overflow” of the produce of our lives.
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7, Jesus makes the comment, “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit and a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit.” Jesus ends this teaching by saying, “Thus you will know them by their fruits.” Now of course, we realize Jesus isn’t just talking about fruit trees. He’s talking about people and the “fruit” of their/our lives. And again, it is a combination of the overflow or the fruit of our lives that create the pictures that others see.
From time to time it would probably be a wise thing to ask our friends, our trusted friends, just what the pictures of our lives are that others see? And when truthful answers are shared, the second question becomes, are these the pictures that I want displayed about who I am? The neat thing is, just as the murals on the corn palace exterior are changed yearly, so it is that the pictures displayed by of our lives are not permanent. They too are changeable. It just takes desire, time, and effort on our part to grow a new crop of the “fruit” we want our life defined by. Because remember, the pictures of our lives are created by the “corn, other grains, and grasses” from our lives.
Now, none of us are perfect, thus we don’t live perfect lives. This means the pictures reflecting our life will never be perfect. But by continuing to improve the overflow, the produce of our lives, we will be able to create pictures/murals that reflect more and more the Lord and master that we follow.
I’ve never really considered myself an artist, but maybe I am through the pictures I create through the fruit of my life. How about you? What pictures are you creating? Let’s all commit to creating beautiful images that tell the story of Jesus in our lives.
Pastor Keith