Same

There is a word that Generation Alpha enjoys, of which I have grown tired. The word is same. For this new generation, same is not just a word but a sentence, short of about eight other words, just enough for them to get their point across.

“I missed you,” I say to my eight-year-old daughter every time she gets in the car from school.

“Same,” she replies.

I am sorry, but that is not enough for me! I love words. I love putting them together purposefully and intentionally to convey a point, and same… well, same does not do it for me, so I concocted a plan. Generation Alpha or not, my child would not walk around this life with one-word answer sentiments, not on my watch!

“I missed you, Angel,” I said to my daughter lovingly as she got in the car after school the next day.

“Same,” she answered, falling right into my trap.

“Yeah, that's not working for me anymore,” I said, handing her a piece of paper with her new answer on it.

“What's this?”

“Oh, it's just a short script. That's what you're going to say from now on when I tell you I missed you.”

“Mama!” she exclaimed, laughing.

“I don't see anything funny,” I replied. “This is now the only acceptable reply for you to give. Read it.”

Through laughter and a few mispronunciations, she finally got it out.

“Likewise, Mother, I too felt the gaping void created by your absence and lamented.”

“That’s so much better, don’t you think?”

As the young folks say, “we are cooked.” People these days do the least and still expect the most. Sadly, the same can be said for believers. Have we become just as apathetic as the world in our relationship with God? What kind of effort do we put forth when approaching the Most High? Is our communication with the Creator of all things fervent and effectual, or a one-word sentiment? Do we do remarkable things to show our love and devotion to the God who does so much for us?

In Luke 7:36-38, we read of the sinful woman who performed a most extravagant act of devotion towards Jesus. The woman invited herself into a Pharisee's home as he sat to eat with Jesus. She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, and anointed Him with sweet perfume. She put herself at risk with this act. She spent an abundance and placed herself in the way of ridicule and possible danger, all to show her affection to Jesus.

There was another woman, Mary of Bethany. She washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, and she anointed Him with oil right before His crucifixion, showing her love for Him through this extraordinary act of kindness (John 12:1-8).

Two women, in similar acts, both went to extremes to show their love for Jesus. In both accounts, these women were judged, and people asked, "How dare they do this?" Washing a guest’s feet, even anointing them with a bit of perfume, was common, but for a woman to take her hair down in public, let alone use it to dry Jesus’ feet, was unheard of. And using an entire pound of costly, fragrant ointment on one person was shocking. One woman was accused of being too sinful to approach Jesus, shocking that Jesus would allow a sinful woman to touch Him. The other woman was accused of wasting money; shocking that she would waste this money that could have been used to help the poor. It was shocking that these two women would put themselves on the line in an act of worship. But what is really shocking is that more people did not do the same (Luke 7:41-50, John 12:4-6).

Have we fallen into the same apathetic mindset as the world when it comes to our God? We receive His love, grace, mercy, and kindness every day, and what is our response? Acts of love and affection toward our Father should not be out of the ordinary; they should be the norm. We as believers should go out of our way for our good, good Father. We should bring our best. Our hearts should be grateful, full of reverence and awe; our gifts should be given cheerfully; our prayers should be fervent and effectual; our worship should be done in spirit and in truth (John 4:24, James 5:16).

The two women in the scripture gave Him all that they had; we ought to do the same.