The Problem With Yellow

The following article was in The Upper Room Devotional. Hope it touches you as it did me!

The little problem at church all started when we painted our free-clothing room a bright, sunny yellow. We all agreed it looked quite nice. 

Then one day just before worship, a woman met me in the hallway and said, “Some of us have been talking and we think your office looks a little dismal.” 

Then later I noticed that when the sun hit the wall in the narthex just right the wall looked smudgy and fingerprinted, and I made a mental note to bring this up at the next board meeting. 

Everything had seemed fine until that one room was painted yellow. 

Now we are ready to beautify the entire place.

I think this is how holiness works. 

Normally “holiness” is described as conforming to a long  catalogue of rules and regulations, but I think holiness starts when God begins a new work in us. 

God creates some small but noticeable beauty in our lives, and as a result our normal routines start to seem bland and colorless by comparison. 

God has raised our expectations. 

We no longer settle for battleship gray; we want more yellow. 

As this new creation grows in us, we see the brokenness in the world, and we catch ourselves rolling up our sleeves to do something about it. 

We want all creation to experience the good work that God has done in us.

Michael Raypholtz (Ohio, USA)