Mar 1 - "Be Nice"

1 Corinthians 4:8-21
"Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings!"
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If you are reading this post, it is most likely that you have a few "comforts" in the world; you have the means to purchase or access a computer, you are able to afford some type of wireless or broadband connect to the internet and you have at least a few free moments each day to spend time updating or getting updates on the world and your friends via email, web sites or Facebook.

We live lives of luxury, when compared to a significantly large portion of the world's population. Now...don't worry...I'm not going to get all populist on you and make you feel guilty about the things in your life for which you have worked very hard. I am a free market capitalist tried an true, but, I also think we should take time to step back and recognize our position in the world every once in awhile and take stock.

There are times in our days, weeks, months...where we feel like there is so much to do. If you are the member of a household who has the lion share of the responsibility to take care of all things family, you are a busy person, for sure. You likely spend your week taking kids to and from school or activities; you will shop for food and then have to cook it; you will wash, fold and put away clothes and maybe make a run to the dry cleaners; you will gas up the car; you will plan family outings or vacations. There is plenty to keep you very busy.

If you are one of the "breadwinners" of the household, you also work hard. You trek to and from work in your car; you may travel for your job, spending time in airports, hotels, taxis and restaurants; you work early and late to get the job done, relying on your spouse to pick up the slack when the demands of work run high. You have a lot to do.

But in the fullness of our lives, there are dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of people out there who, because of the work they do, enable us to work and play. They work in stores, gas stations, restaurants, dry cleaners, hotels and airports. They deliver our mail, collect our trash and keep the power on. If we are being honest with ourselves, how do we interact and treat the people who are critical to our lives each day?

Sometimes, it's the little things that can make a difference. Whenever I travel, on business or with my family, and end up staying in a hotel, I clean up after myself. This sounds strange to say, but, how many of us think of a hotel room as a place where we can live out the dreams of childhood and jump on the bed, leave things lying around, trash the place...and someone else will clean up the mess without you getting yelled at or grounded? When I leave a hotel room, the towels are all in the bathtub, there is no trash lying around, whatever I used...water bottles, soap, shampoo, etc...is all in the wastebasket, not strewn around the place.

Now, I know the housekeeping staff still has to clean the room, change the linens and make the bed, but, how nice is it to step into a room that is not a train wreck? Maybe this person has been having a tough day. This past weekend we were at a hotel with a water park...I have to imagine that, with all of the kids at this place, some of the rooms get pretty trashed. Hopefully, when the staff came to our room after we checked out, they thought, "Phew...finally, an easy one."

We have all we want. We are rich. We are kings.

Although each of us may be deeply thankful for the way God has blessed our lives and we may have worked incredibly hard to attain the position in life we currently occupy, are we not obliged to still be conscious of those who toil endlessly in order to support our enjoyment of these blessings?

So, be nice. Give a smile...a please...a sincere thank you to those who support your life each day. Recognize that so many of their jobs are thankless and harder than we can imagine. Be aware that your actions, your decisions on how you treat them can lift their day up, or, even if done unwittingly, destroy it.