Friday Morning Devo

“Popsicles”

There’s something innocent and beautiful about a little kid with a red popsicle on a hot summer day. They slurp and suck and lick the treat as it melts all down their chin and fingers. They are a sticky mess but they look up at you with a big cheesy grin and you can’t help but smile back.

Popsicles are a great treat in hot weather. They are made mostly of water, so they actually help to hydrate you and keep you going on a scorching day. They taste good, and they cool you down. They are refreshing.

Sometimes as we run our race we need refreshment and sustenance, something to cool us off and keep us going. Fortunately God knows this. He does not leave His followers to suffer. God opens the freezer, unwraps a treat, and hands it to us with an endearing smile.

Just like popsicles come in an assortment of flavors and colors, God’s refreshment comes in a variety of ways. Sometimes God uses people around us to refresh us. It is amazing what a word from a fellow Christian can do to lift us up when we need it! That is why we need fellowship, it is refreshing to know that we are not running this race all alone.

Sometimes God uses His Word to recharge us. The Bible is so full of life and encouragement. God reminds us of verses we have memorized right when we need to hear them. God gives us knew insight about verses we’ve read a hundred times before. God shows us new things in His Word just as things are getting stale and old. He revitalizes our energy and keeps us moving in our faith race.

God uses other ways to restore our energy, too. Sometimes His Holy Spirit just fills our hearts when we were not expecting it. Sometimes God treats us to beauty in His creation that rejuvenates our souls. Sometimes He waits until we ask Him.

Sometimes we have to put down an unhealthy treat the world has sold to us so we can free up our hands to receive the enlivening popsicle God offers us for free.

What refreshes you? Ask God to charge you for today’s race!

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

(Psalm 51:10, 12)