I love jelly beans--well, you know, you snitch from your kids' Easter candy and have a ball......you eat jelly beans until you are blue in the face...or green, as the case may be. Ask me--for you see, those jelly beans tasted sooo good today, I just kept gobbling them down.....and then....
Well, if you've ever done something so extravagantly silly such as eating too MANY jelly beans, I don't have to describe the feeling. Too much of a good thing can ruin your day! Too much of ANYTHING can ruin your day...and that's really where my devotional takes off...
For some of us tend to put too many jelly bean in our basket...the basket will only hold "so much" and then it falls apart! We heap upon ourselves too many responsibilities, too many problems not our own, too many worries we can do nothing about and and then we're overburdened and too blue to do anything well. We may eat too much, sleep too much, do too much, talk too much...all out of balance with what our good senses tell us is enough...and then we pay for our foolishness...we've worn ourselves out, eaten ourselves full, worried ourselves sick, scolded ourselves silly...just color us blue!
What to do to beat those jelly bean blues? STOP...take time to think before you say "yes" to another committee assignment! LOOK...take a GOOD, long look at the list you already have! LISTEN...take time to see what God says about it! And then GO...put the jelly beans back that you know you can't handle. Learn to say NO--nicely, of course--whether it's to yourself or to another--whether it's candy or a committee!
Nothing remarkably spiritual about jelly beans, but if we can all learn a lesson from those Easter goodies, we'll please the Lord, please ourselves--and be much more pleasing to the folks who have to live with us! Now believe it--and now, if I can do the same and stay away from those jelly beans TOMORROW, you and I will BOTH have a better day!!
Delight in a Word from the Well--a refreshing in the Water of His Word
"Let your moderation be known unto all men... (Philippians 4:5 KJV)."
Draw from the Well--a prayer for renewing strength for this day
"Lord, I do nothing in moderation! I eat too much, talk too much, do too much, worry too much--and I need Your help! Help me to enjoy life in moderation; to know when I should say "no" to another job, another project--or another dessert! Give me wisdom to live a balanced life for my betterment--and for Your glory, In Jesus' Name, Amen."
