Hooey Bag

Matt 7:21-23 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (NIV) Pride is a deceptive sin because pride is often hidden behind good deeds and outstanding accomplishments. We bloat ourselves with titles and degrees to look good to others. We fill our “hooey bag” with all kinds of things the world, and even the church, admires. When I look inside my “hooey bag,” I am carrying and relying on many things that don’t matter. Here are some of the things inside of my bag: A degree from L.C.C. with additional graduate studies, served on the L.T.C. board for over seventeen years; eight of those years, I was the vice chairman, and in four of those years, I was the chairman, I was a faculty instructor for Walk Thru the Bible for several years and conducted nearly one hundred seminars across the world. I served on the board of C.W.J.C and F.C.A. I was named to the Outstanding Young Men of America and Who’s Who in the West. I taught Bible at L.C.H.S. and served in ministry for over forty years. I was in Kiwanis and was the president of the local chapter of Rotary. I am the Chairman of the Red River Family Encampment and the associate director. I have taught at Red River (in one capacity or another) for over 30 years. L.C.U. awarded me the K.C. Moser award, and I have other things in my “hooey bag.” My “hooey bag” is heavy and full of things that made me feel important, but ultimately my “hooey bag” was just an oversized weight that kept people from seeing me and me from seeing people. Recently I have lost forty pounds and a lot of hair. I don’t look like I did when all of this started, and the process has been the most painful thing ever. When Julie and I got home from six weeks in hospital facilities, I discovered that I needed to set aside my “hooey bag”; something greater needed to take its place. You wonder if you make a difference as a minister and even a man. As we turned the corner to the block we live on, there was the most significant thing I could have ever seen: friends taking time out of their day to welcome us home. They knew they couldn’t come close to us, hug us, or even come inside. They just came to give us their presence, the greatest present they could give us. On my garage entrance was a banner full of the names of people who wanted to reach out to us. The next day in the mail, I received another banner from Red River full of the names of people who just wanted to reach out. The essential things in life are not the awards you receive or even the money and stuff you have accumulated. The most critical thing in life is the people you touch for the glory of God. People matter to God, and as His child, people matter to us. One person at a time, that is how Christ reached out most effectively, and if we want to be known by Him, we need to be reaching out, One person at a time, for His glory. In Him, J. Tom Washburn