256 Shades of Gray

Galatians 5:16-18 The Message (MSG)

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

Ephesians 5:8 New Life Version (NLV)

8 At one time you lived in darkness. Now you are living in the light that comes from the Lord. Live as children who have the light of the Lord in them.

There are actually 256 shades of gray.  Yeap, there are more than 50 shades.  Got your attention?  When choosing gray as your paint color, it can look so different on the swatch than on the wall.  We can even bring samples of it home, slap it on the wall and it takes on so many different shades throughout the day.  The color tends to lend itself to the lighting in the room as the day rolls on.  In fact, in our last home we had our room painted the color Manhattan Mist (what I thought was a strong gray).  I came home that night and was very pleased with the color.  Then woke up the next morning to find that it actually looked more baby blue than gray.  

Did you know that there is NO opposite color of gray?  I googled it, and I believe everything I Google ;)  “Colorless gray has no opposite color. It doesn’t exist.”  Most grays have a touch of one or more colors.  Ok, so how does this all tie into a Thoughtful Thursday message…

It is so easy for us to blend in and melt into different shades.  We tend to go along with the flow of things and change our thinking along the way.  While changing, we can easily just change into another shade of gray.  God doesn’t want us to melt into another shade of gray.  He wants us to be bold and look different.  He wants us to take on a bold color in the color wheel and be that color.  Yes, there are times we are more a blue than a yellow, but God did not put us here on Earth to become a shade of gray.  What color are you today?  If you are finding yourself a shade of gray, I pray that you take time to silence your life, open the word, and find your color.  “Without rain there would be no rainbow.”  Gray is not in the rainbow, but it is necessary to have rainy seasons.  Don’t let the rain flood your hearts.  Look for the rainbow because it will be there.  Grab your color!  Grab it boldly!  Shine Bright!    

Be Blessed!