Inhale!

There’s just something invigorating about living in the country: wide open spaces, slower and less traffic, wildflowers and honeysuckle, wildlife, fresh air, and [don’t forget] those delightful natural fragrances.  Tell me where else can you inhale such distinctive aromas unique to country-living -- chicken litter, skunks, pigs, cows!

Life is not always the fragrance of a rose.  No, sometimes life just stinks -- housework, bills, inoperable vehicles, disobedient children, disappointment, rejection, sorrow, etc.  Joni Eareckson Tada writes, "To think about heaven is to think about Jesus. To pursue heaven with your heart is to pursue Him.  The King of heaven wants us to see this tight connection between the Place and the Person. When our heart melts into God's and when our mind is thinking on Him, Place and Person no longer seem separated."  The fragrance of Heaven exists right here where we are -- doing the housework, paying the bills, waiting for the tow truck, disciplining our children, dealing with disappointment and rejection, overcoming sorrow, etc.  Getting a strong and intense whiff of Heaven clears the mind, renews the heart, and overcomes life's stench with Christ’s Peace and Joy.  I know, of course, country-living isn’t for everyone but kingdom-living is for all Believers.  Seek Christ and His Mind as you do life today then go ahead and ... inhale!