Lakeside Baptist Church

FROM THE PASTOR

February 26, 2017

The way my mother tells the story is that I was about a year old when the accident happened. Mom and dad were married for about two years when I made my entrance into this world and we lived in a small apartment above an old business in Rives Junction right across from the Baptist church. I’m told that I started to walk at an extremely young age and like all parents (mom was only 18) she had a hard time keeping an eye on me.

It was early in the morning and mom had just boiled a kettle of water to make tea when I came flying by her, reached up and grabbed the handle on the tea pot and proceeded to burn myself from the neck on down. As I reflect back I’m thankful for two things…1^st I have no personal recollection of the incident and 2^nd I only have one small scar in my arm pit whose appearance is more like a birth mark than a burn. But it’s still a scar and a reminder of that day.

We all carry scars in our lives for a whole variety of reasons. Some are the result of circumstances we had no control over yet others, we have to confess, we do bear the responsibility. In either case, the scars are reminders. They remind us of events, choices (positive and negative), circumstances, preferences, demands, carelessness, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They remind us to remember. They even should remind us to be thankful.

Sin also leaves scars. While I am confident in what 1 John 1:9 proclaims…

And as confident as I am that God’s love and forgiveness transcends all events, the scars of sin can and often do remain. And because of that, we face choices.

• We can “choose” to ignore the scars and act as if nothing ever happened.
• We can “choose” indifference toward the scars. They’re there but it really doesn’t matter or make a difference.
• Or we can “choose” to embrace the scars and let them be a testimony to the great love God has shown us.

The choice is yours.

Thank You for your faithfulness! Pastor Larry