I have discovered over the past eighteen months that life is like a piñata. I teach Spanish and my classes are always wanting to make and bust a piñata. Every year....for the past 21 years it has been the same thing. My children also wanted one at their birthday parties. I have to admit....they would be great stress busters. If I could make my own personal piñata I would fill it with strips of paper with words or names of people who get under my skin....and then swing at the thing as hard as I can until I bust it and send the slips of paper floating off into the air. Sigh...just talking about it has made me feel better. I read a cute devotional today by Julia Bettencourt about piñatas and it prompted me to write my own post about them. For her scripture lesson she chose Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." I thought I would use the same text since it seemed to fit my topic so well. Thanks Julia for giving me a springboard to write. If you really think about it....piñata busting can be quite frightening....you blindfold a person, give them a bat (or it's equivalent) and let them swing at something that is moving. You have to admit....this is crazy! I did discover that there are making pinatas now with a pull string so all the kids have to do is pull the string and the contents inside is released. I like that idea much better. Piñatas are cute, beautiful and why would anyone want to destroy something so pretty. The answer is simple....the inside is filled with sweet things and that is the ultimate goal....get the sweets! Piñatas are like people....you can paste beautiful things on the outside.....embellish ourselves however we want....but it is not what is on the outside that counts...it is the inside. Our heart is where the sweet stuff is...and that shows the world just what we are. The world today is not full of sweet stuff....it is full of wickedness and cruelty. We are bombarded by it everyday. The bad in the world fades our paper....tugs at pieces of us....smashes us....and sometimes breaks us. Our life's piñata may get cracked with the amazing force or life. BUT....it is at that point that we need to show just what our piñata's are made of. It is at times like these that we must retain beautiful thoughts, compassion, and love in our hearts so that in turn beautiful deeds and beautiful words will come out of us. Luke 6:45 tells us, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." So...in order for us to be full of sweet things....we must keep our hearts in tune with Christ and when the cold dark object of the world comes whacking on us, out will spill beautiful and sweet things that reflect the Lord. So, let me ask you today....the Monday after Easter Sunday.....just what is spilling out of you?
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