Color Me Christian

I am so excited.  Our fall break starts on Friday....when we leave inservice.  Frank and I are going to the mountains for a few days to visit with our precious friends Chuck and Susan.  While we are in the mountains....with the aid of my Canon camera....I am going to go into photo shock taking pictures in Cades Cove.  I cannot wait!  I am also taking Frank to Murphy, NC to see the giant ten commandments on the hillside....but most of all I am going to soak up the colors of fall.  I like a great many people am drawn to fall colors. To me, fall colors are warm, vibrant,  rich, and energetic. So today....I am sitting here and I have to ask myself....since I love fall so much....just how appealing am I as a Christian? Do people gravitate to me because I am a warm, vibrant, and inviting person?   I would like to think so....probably they just gravitate toward me because I am funny.....oh, I am such a people person.  Years ago I took one of those color analysis things....and it was so wrong.  It pegged me as a winter....and even the people in the group thought it missed the mark....I am such a fall person.  So what are the colors of fall and what do they say about the season, the person, the color itself.   My favorite color is  Red. When I think about the color of the fall leaves there's just something about the trees that are full of red leaves glistening in the sun. It's just breathtaking. They stick out and you notice them.  They scream at me...."Hey, over here....Look at me!"  Red also reminds me of passion. No matter where we are in our Christian walk, I think we all could do with a little more passion for Christ. I want to be a red stick out for Christ......I want to reflect his brilliance.  Matthew 5:16 tells us to:  "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  Yep, that is what I want to do...let my little light shine.  I am not going to hide mine under a bush....no siree!  My second favorite color would have to be orange.  I don't like to wear it....but I love it for its warmth and comfort.  Orange is so beautiful in the fall. We see it in not just the fall leaves, but in pumpkins(Yummm Yummmm). Orange reflects warmth and symbolizes thankfulness to me.  It reminds me of Thanksgiving  The color orange makes me want to do things for others....provide meals.....invite people inside out of the cold.   As Christians that's something we should portray. We should be that warm inviting person that cares about others.  Ephesians 4:32 says, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."  Yep...I certainly want to be an orange person...as long as you don't make me wear it.  It looks horrid on me.  Yellow is my third favorite fall color. I pass a sugar maple every day going and coming to work.  In the morning it is still darkish and the tree is pretty....but not as brilliant as it looks when I head home and the sun is reflecting off of it.  It is gorgeous....with a capital "G"!  Yellow makes me happy. When I am happy I think as a Christian it makes others wonder what I have that they don't.  I don't want to be a gloomy Gus.....I want to be a Suzy sunshine.....and I can be because I have Christ, and with that comes a joy in my heart.  Galatians 5:22-23 tells us "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,gentleness, goodness, faith,Meekness, temperance:against such there is no law."  I am actually torn between the colors of red and purple.  I love the color purple....my favorite poem is "When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.".....I have not worn it yet....but I should start shopping for some.  Purple leaves to me  are so striking. Purple is a rich and royal color. As  a Child of Chrisr I am royalty.  I am the daughter of a King.....so I am a Princess. Even though most of the royals we have here on earth do not behave perfect all the time.....we, as Christians, should reflect our royal lineage.  Personally I don't want to be remembered as a Henry VIII type Christian. Romans 8:16-17 says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."  My least favorite color of fall....is Brown.  I know that if we didn't have all that brown in the midst of the bright fall colors, I doubt if they'd be so brilliant. Brown represents stability and it anchors all those other beautiful colors together.  Christ is my anchor.  He tethers me to the rocky shore during the raging storm.  I want people to look at me....and know that I am not only living for Christ....but depending on Him for everything. If I don't show that to the world....then I show that Christ is a liar.  "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." Colossians 2:6,7I don't know about you....but I don't want Christ to be blacked out in this world...because I am not a vibrant Christian.  I want people to stand up and see Him....because I am showing Him off in grand style.  So, what colors are you projecting?  Happy Thursday!