A little over four years ago our family moved from Kansas to Southwest Florida. The state of Kansas is known for many things– wheat, sunflowers, tornadoes, endless prairies, the Abilene Trail, Dodge City and the Wild, Wild West, Jayhawk basketball, and so on. But when you mention the word Kansas to people, many automatically think of the classic movie, The
Wizard of Oz. The standing
line I heard countless times during our first months in Estero was,“We’re not in
Kansas anymore Toto!” Glad they reminded me. I would never have figured it out otherwise! (lol)
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Judy Garland sang the haunting melody, Somewhere Over The Rainbow. What an absolutely beautiful song! But what a sad philosophy of life. How sad to live your life always singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” The implication of the song is that somewhere out there life is good, skies are blue, bluebirds sing. And if we could only find that make-believe place where life is as it should be, then, we would really be happy. There, we would really do something significant for God. But until then…
May I suggest we focus on the here and now? When it comes to the word here, where has God planted you? As for the word now, today is all we have. Plan for the future, yes! But don’t live in the future. Live in the here and now!
The great missionary evangelist, E. Stanley Jones, once made this observation, “Where your roots are, your fruits are.” No farmer ever sowed in one field, and reaped in another. You reap where you sow.
Don’t make the mistake of going through life wistfully singing, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” Take life by the horns and live it to the full here and now. As the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, “Let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God” (1 Corinthians 7:24).
Pastor
Todd Weston
Wizard of Oz. The standing
line I heard countless times during our first months in Estero was,“We’re not in
Kansas anymore Toto!” Glad they reminded me. I would never have figured it out otherwise! (lol)
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Judy Garland sang the haunting melody, Somewhere Over The Rainbow. What an absolutely beautiful song! But what a sad philosophy of life. How sad to live your life always singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” The implication of the song is that somewhere out there life is good, skies are blue, bluebirds sing. And if we could only find that make-believe place where life is as it should be, then, we would really be happy. There, we would really do something significant for God. But until then…
May I suggest we focus on the here and now? When it comes to the word here, where has God planted you? As for the word now, today is all we have. Plan for the future, yes! But don’t live in the future. Live in the here and now!
The great missionary evangelist, E. Stanley Jones, once made this observation, “Where your roots are, your fruits are.” No farmer ever sowed in one field, and reaped in another. You reap where you sow.
Don’t make the mistake of going through life wistfully singing, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” Take life by the horns and live it to the full here and now. As the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, “Let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God” (1 Corinthians 7:24).
Pastor
Todd Weston
