Tools Required

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 4:32-5:2 ESV). Sometime ago, I bought a new table and chairs for the office. They were packaged in two large boxes with the dreaded words printed on the outside: “Some Assembly Required. Tools Required.” It’s strange that in a society that craves instant everything, more and more of what we buy comes with this dreaded tag. “Some Assembly Required.” We’ve gotten used to it. While we may grumble or complain, we still buy the products because it’s supposed to make them less expensive. Besides, when you do last minute shopping, there’s no one who has time to put the thing together anyway. “Some Assembly Required.” While putting these items together, Mary was surprised to see me reading the instructions. Perhaps earlier in my life I would have attempted these projects without reading the instructions, but many failures later, I’ve learned reading the instructions is always quicker and easier! If people came to us with tags on them, I’m sure they’d come with the same tag: “Some Assembly Required.” The friends we make and the marriage partners we chose are all flawed almost as much as we are. Yet for some strange reason, what we tolerate in toys, outdoor furniture, and a host of other things, we do not tolerate in relationships. We don’t want to expend any effort to make our relationships work. They have to be “magic.” We expect our friends and partners to meet our needs and fulfill our dreams. If we don’t get it, then we quit it. We trade our current friend or partner in on a “newer model.” After awhile, when euphoria of newness wears off again, we repeat the cycle. We want instant relationships, none of this “Some Assembly Required” stuff for us! Deep down, however, we know these kinds of relationships are not going to have any depth or staying power, but what can you do? After all, isn’t this how everyone else treats everyone else? NO! In Jesus, we learn that we need to follow the directions and work at putting them together. In this special time of year, let’s remember that the greatest gifts can’t be purchased or rushed. The greatest gifts are the people God brings into our lives. They are much more important than toys, so let’s not give up on them even when “Some Assembly is Required.”