Our Happily Ever After

In a previous post, I shared one of the messages I walked away with from my weekend at the Harvey Cedars Bible Conference, where our speaker was Young Life leader and author Ned Erickson. 

Ned helped me to see a broader application for Jesus’ meeting with the rich young man, as recorded in Mark 10:17-22. 

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It isn’t just a love of money that can keep us from submitting our hearts and lives to Jesus.  It isn’t just a human tendency to want to earn our own salvation through our works so that we can boast about what we have attained that keeps us from accepting God’ grace.  Rather, we can limit our experience of Jesus in our lives, limit our ability to know and love him, limit our access to the love and abundance that he offers to us, because of our unwillingness to be vulnerable with him. 

When we refuse to tear down the carefully-constructed walls that keep the world thinking that we are good and our lives are perfect and we have everything under control, then we block out Jesus, who looks at us, and sees our heart, and LOVES us.

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In addition to shedding a new light on this particular gospel account, Ned also provided a new way of considering the Sabbath rest.

Many people trace the practice of resting on the Sabbath to God’s act of creation, as recorded in the Book of Genesis.  God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them in six days, and on the seventh day he rested because there was nothing left for Him to do.  His work was finished. 

Where do we hear the echo of these words?  From the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,” at the time of his death, because he had done everything that needed to be done in order for us to enter into the Promised Land.  With his death, the payment of the penalty for our sins, Jesus made a way for us.  Jesus IS the way for us!

Since, then, a Sabbath is a rest, a time when our work is done, Christ has created a Sabbath-rest for us that lasts seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.  We are called to rest from the work of trying to save ourselves, because Christ has finished the work for us. 

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Ned used a couple different analogies to underscore this point.  First, he compared it to a football game we’ve already won.  We already know the score.  We already know we have the victory.  We just have to play the game, all four quarters, to experience all that God has planned for us.

Further, he compared it to a novel, saying that our lives are an epic romance, in which we are going to “get the guy” in the end and live happily ever after.  That is the promise we find in scripture.  Ours is a redemption story:  we are going to be redeemed in the end, and our story of redemption is part of a larger story in which Christ will return and make all things new.

Flip to the end of the story!  The Bible tells us that when we walk with Christ, when we accept the invitation that the rich young man refused, our storyline clearly ends with the words, “And they lived happily ever after”!

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Ned shared a biblical illustration of this truth, beyond the sports and literary metaphors.  In the Book of Joshua, chapter 1, God promises to give Joshua every place across the Jordan River where he sets his foot. “Your territory,” God tells Joshua, “will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west” (Joshua 1:4).  God promises to give him everywhere he steps by faith.

But there is work to be done—walls to break down and giants to slay.  The Promised Land is already theirs.  The last line of their story was already written, just as the last line of our story is already written:  “And they lived happily ever after.”

Our future is certain, which opens up possibilities for our present.  “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).  Our work is not to save ourselves; it is to lay claim—like Joshua and the Hebrew people—to all that God has promised us.  God gives us everything He has—His infinite grace.  We are only limited by our acceptance of it. 

How much of what God has for us to experience are we willing to accept?  If we refuse to be limited by what has happened in our past and by our fears for the future, then we can meet Jesus where he waits for us—in our present, where we are NOW—and live where we are meant to live, walking with Jesus toward our promised “happily ever after.”

Sharing Our Gifts to Encourage Others

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Our Living Stones Women's Ministry has done a variety of different service/mission projects over the past year, including running the Orphan Day 5K (hmmm...I think I'm the only one who did that!), collecting gifts for birthday boxes, and writing letters to the mother of one of our members in her final weeks.  I especially like the idea of encouragement as a ministry.  Along with the church members at Thessalonica, we are instructed by Paul to "encourage one another and build each other up," and we know from personal experience what a blessing it is to receive encouragement from others. 

 

A Christian woman I'm acquainted with online is creating a room of artful encouragement for her daughter, who will be returning from a residential treatment program in Arizona by mid-March.  She has called upon her online friends to contribute encouraging pieces that she can include in a "spruced-up" room she is creating for her daughter's return. 

 

I asked the Living Stones to consider their talents and interests, and offer something for me to send to my online friend for her daughter.  So far, I have three pieces to send along, and I am delighted by how we each used such different gifts to express our encouragement.

 

1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others,

as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

 

From our resident photographer, Sue:

The quotation from Albert Camus reads, "In the midst of winter, I found that there was, within me, an invincible summer."  An invincible summer within me--what an inspiring thought!

 

From our resident scrapbook-enthusiast, Christine:

The quotation from Mark F. LaMoure reads, "In life, we tend to get what we expect.  Start expecting the best.  Since life is a do-it-yourself project, why not believe in miracles?  You have the freedom of choice.  Why not expect miracles to happen in your life?  Make plans, work hard and expect miracles.  Why?  Because you can."  I love that last part:  Why?  Because you can.  What a great motto!

 

And from our resident mixed-media artist, me:

The text come from a card I picked up on my church's recent family retreat at Harvey Cedars Bible Conference:  "Good morning, Lord!  Let's begin this day together!" along with the text of Psalm 118:24:  "This is the day the Lord has made.  Let's rejoice and be glad in it."

 

And for everyone who thinks that they do not have the creativity or "talent" to create something to send along as part of our mission project, I would like to share this verse from Paul's letter to the Colossians:

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

 

Whenever you have the opportunity to do projects like this, or to pray with someone, or to complete any sort of service, remember that you are working for God, not trying to win the praise of other people.  Serving, like praying, is not a competitive sport!  Do it in the service of God, and your light will shine for the world, and the people around you won't be able to help but to be blessed!

 

Our Carefully-Constructed Walls

During the 2015 All-Church Family Retreat at Harvey Cedars Bible Conference, Ned Erickson spoke at several sessions over the Valentine’s Day weekend to our Media Presbyterian Church family.  Ned is a former MPC member, the son of our own Renee and Rich Erickson, and has authored several books, including Clay and Falling Into Love:  How anAverage Guy Got the Girl of His Dreams.  He is a Young Life leader in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

When I got home from our retreat, I spent some time looking over my notes from Ned’s sessions, reviewing the Bible passages he referenced, and writing out my understanding of his messages.  When he shared insights about The Rich Young Man in Mark 10:17-22, he helped me to see a familiar Bible passage in a new light, with a broader application.  Here are some of Ned’s thoughts, with some of my own embellishments:

Instead of The Rich Young Man, Ned calls him “The Man with the Carefully-Constructed Life.”  This man has diligently kept God’s commandments, he knows to fall on his knees in humility before a great teacher, and he desires to know what he must do to inherit eternal life.  By all appearances, this is a good, honest, earnestly religious man. 

But 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that God doesn’t look at the same things man looks at.  “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” And when Jesus looks at this young man’s heart, He sees his love of money.  He sees his desire to do all the right things to earn his way into eternal life.  He sees this man’s need to “be good” in the eyes of others.  And the scripture tells us Jesus’ reaction to what He sees there in that young man’s heart:  “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21).

Jesus loves him!

He knows that the one thing this man wants more than anything else is the same as it is for any and all of us—love—but instead of seeking it in the right place—in God, who Himself is Love—the man has given his heart over to the love of money.  And Jesus loves him anyway!  

In the same way, Jesus loves us anyway, no matter what that “anyway” might entail.  He loves the real me.  He loves the real you.  The one thing we want more than anything—love—is the one thing God most wants us to know about Him.

In verse 21, Jesus invites the man to follow him—to tear down the walls of his carefully-constructed life, to walk alongside Him, to allow Him to become part of his life.  But to tear down those walls, to let love in, to make way for intimacy and vulnerability, will require this man to let go of his focus on doing the right things, on holding his money close, and on earning his salvation.

And so the young man walks away from Jesus. 

It’s too scary for him to be vulnerable, too scary to cast aside the worldly wealth and abundance he has amassed for himself in favor of the wealth and abundance that Jesus freely offers. 

What are our carefully-constructed walls that keep us from allowing Jesus in, that keep us from walking in intimacy with Him, that keep us from the abundance He has promised us?  God sees through to our hearts and loves us—the real us.  There’s no need to maintain our carefully constructed walls around the One who created us and can see through to our hearts, and still loves us.

Come back for Part 2:  “Our Happily-Ever-After.”

A Wife of Noble Character Who Can Find?: Abigail

[Second post in my "A Wife of Noble Character" series.]

Reading about Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 leaves me wishing there were more to find out about this interesting woman.  She is described as “intelligent and beautiful” (v. 3), while married to Nabal, a Calebite, who has gone down in history as “surly and mean” (v. 3). 


Source:  nccg.org

It is likely that Nabal, a wealthy man who likes to party like a king and treat others with thoughtless disrespect, has no idea that he is married to “a wife of noble character…worth far more than rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).  If it weren’t for her bringing him good, not harm, all the days of her life (Proverbs 31:12), the account found in 1 Samuel 25 would have ended much differently!

In this chapter, we are told that it is sheep-shearing time—time to party!—in Carmel, where the wealthy Nabal owns a thousand goats and three thousand sheep on his land.  Earlier, David and his men had protected Nabal’s shepherds and their sheep from any foreigners who might have tried to harm them or steal them away.  David thinks it is only fair that his men be repaid by Nabal for their kindness and concern—perhaps with some supplies, certainly an invitation to the party—whatever Nabal can spare for them.  It would be pretty hard to hold a lavish sheep-shearing party, while claiming that he has nothing to offer to men who have done such a great service for him!

David even has his men ask nicely:  “Long life to you!  Good health to you and your household!  And good health to all that is yours!...Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them” (1 Samuel 25: 6, 8).

http://fbv.socialbiblia.com/david-and-nabal.php

But Nabal’s response is essentially this:  “Who is this David guy?  He could be ANYBODY.  Why should I waste my bread, water, and meat on HIM and his men?  They could be coming from who knows where!” (a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 25:10-11).

David is outraged, pretty understandably.  Nabal is violating every expectation of hospitality and kindness that would have generally ruled interactions at that time.  His response, though, is hasty.  He tells 400 of his men to grab their swords and head right over to kill every single man in Nabal’s household (1 Samuel 25: 13, 22).  That would have included his family, servants, shepherds, and other workers. 

Well, thank goodness, one of Nabal’s servants tells Nabal’s wife Abigail that a very outraged David and 400 tired, hungry, and angry men are headed their way (1 Samuel 25: 14-16)!

Abigail springs into action—it’s good news for her household that she does not “eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27)!—with an understanding of the situation that suggests this isn’t the first time she has to act quickly to smooth over a rift caused by her husband’s bad behavior.  And the fact that the servants know to come to HER to sort out the catastrophe (1 Samuel 25: 17) suggests that they, too, know who to go to for wise action when Nabal’s breaches of kindness and etiquette get everyone else in trouble. 

In her wisdom, Abigail comes to David with humility, provisions, and positive and encouraging words. 

She faces these 400 angry men riding alone on a donkey into a mountain ravine (1 Samuel 25: 20).  Clearly, she is placing herself at David’s mercy.  She immediately falls at his feet, and offers to take all the blame for Nabal’s behavior upon herself (v. 23-24).


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But Abigail doesn’t come with words alone.  She also comes with provisions for David and his men.  They are looking for supplies, and she makes sure they get them:  200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs (about a bushel) of roasted grain, 100 raisin cakes, and 200 fig cakes (1 Samuel 25: 18, 27).

The Proverbs 31 wife is depicted as making good decisions, working with eager hands, and providing food for her family and servants (v. 13-15).  While we don’t have information about how Abigail fills her days, we DO know that she makes her own very good decisions for her family, and provides what is needed to keep her family and servants safe from harm.  While the Proverbs 31 wife decides how to use her money productively—on fields or vineyards (v. 16)—Abigail knows the value of using her household money to prepare food for David’s men.  While the Proverbs 31 woman sets about her work vigorously and is strong for the tasks before her (v. 17), Abigail moves quickly to take care of her household’s business and is emotionally strong enough to face an oncoming force of 400 men with humility and strength, simultaneously.  

And finally, Abigail wisely brings words of encouragement to appease David, calm his anger, and redirect his thinking.  The Proverbs 31 woman “can laugh at the days to come” (v. 25) because of her confidence that her future lays in God’s capable hands.  Indeed, Abigail is able to prophecy to David that the Lord will make a lasting dynasty from his family and protect his life, while casting aside his enemies, that God will do every good thing he has promised to David and appoint him leader over Israel (I Samuel 25:28-30).  Abigail knows who holds the future in His hands!  And in sharing this understanding with David at such a pivotal moment, “she speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26).  She is wise to remind him that he will not want the burden of needless bloodshed marring his reputation and his conscience once he is king.

Imagine Abigail’s HUGE sigh of relief when David says, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.  May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands…Go home in peace” (1 Samuel 25: 32, 35).  Though her own husband, Nabal, is unlikely to have called her blessed, nor praised her (Proverbs 31:28), David—her future husband—does, in fact, call her blessed.

Mission accomplished:  Disaster averted!

Of course, Abigail is still stuck going home to Nabal.  She finds him drunk and partying, and doesn’t even try to fill him in on what has happened until the next morning.  Long story short, God strikes him dead ten days later, and David asks Abigail to be his wife.  She gets back on that donkey quickly (1 Samuel 25: 42), and heads out to marry David, the future king of Israel!

If I had a chance to speak to Abigail, based on this account of one brief period in her life, I would say to her:  “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all” (Proverbs 31:29)!

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To read about Rebekah, the first woman in my

"A Wife of Noble Character" series, click here.

A Wife of Noble Character Who Can Find?: Rebekah

In the last chapter of A Woman’s Wisdom, Lydia Brownback challenges her readers to examine the lives of six different Biblical women to determine whether or not they meet the criteria presented in Proverbs 31 for the “wife of noble character.”  Because our Living Stones group will be engaging in a series of workshops during October and November that do not require Bible reading between our meetings, I would like to challenge our members to spend some time looking at these six women through the lens of the Proverbs 31 woman to draw your own conclusions about the ways each compares and contrasts with the ideal wife portrayed there:  Rebekah, Abigail, Michal, Jezebel, Sapphira, and Priscilla. 

I started this afternoon, looking at the Biblical narrative surrounding Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, sister of Laban, wife of Isaac, and mother of Jacob and Esau.  Her history can be found in the Book of Genesis, specifically chapters 24 through 27.

I focused on the question:  Is Rebekah a “wife of noble character” (Proverbs 31:10)? 

Source:  bibleencyclopedia.com

She starts out so promisingly! 

When Abraham’s servant Eliezer finds Rebekah at the well in the town of Nahor (Genesis 24), she immediately offers the weary traveler a drink of water from her jar.  Not only that, but she offers to draw water from the well for his camels, too—TEN camels, who can drink as much as 25 gallons of water at a time to rehydrate!  She makes this offer without hesitation, and carries out the task without any recorded grumbling, which suggests a noble character indeed!

But once she becomes a wife and mother, the tone of her story changes. 

Rebekah should have seen that God had a great plan to work out in her life.  After all, she conceives after twenty years of barrenness, in response to Isaac’s prayer to God on her behalf (Genesis 25:21).  And when Rebekah inquires of God why there is so much jostling in her womb, He tells her very clearly that two separate nations will come from the children she will bear, that the older will serve the younger, and that the people of one would be stronger than the people of the other (Genesis 25:22-23).  God clearly has plans for her twins! 

Source:  womeninthebible.net

And yet even seeing God at work in her life so clearly, Rebekah doesn’t seem to trust Him completely; she seems to think she needs to help things along.

From the beginning she favors the younger twin, Jacob, over the older twin, Esau.  Esau only makes matters worse by taking two non-Hebrew women as wives (Genesis 26:34-35).  He seemed to be snubbing his cultural and spiritual heritage by marrying among the Hittites, and bringing these outsiders into his Hebrew mother’s home. Rebekah even says of her other son, Jacob:  “If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living” (Genesis 27:46).  From my 21^st century American perspective, it is hard to condone such a narrow-minded view of intercultural marriage, but Rebekah’s understanding of the special status of the Hebrew people in the sight of God gives her an entirely different point of view.

But rather than trusting God’s plan to bring about Jacob’s ascendance over Esau, foretold by the Lord when they were still in the womb, Rebekah takes matters into her own hands by following a path of deceit.  Here is what happened:

When Isaac was very, very old, he asked Esau to hunt some wild game and prepare him a tasty meal, and then Isaac would give his son the awaited blessing.  When Rebekah heard Isaac’s request, she went to Jacob and told him that while Esau is out hunting, Jacob should bring her two young goats, so SHE could fix the tasty food for Isaac.  To further the deceit, she dresses Jacob in Esau’s clothing and covers his exposed skin with goatskins so he would feel hairy like Esau.  Her deception is well-conceived and complete!  “Just do what I say,” she tells her son Jacob, when he worries that her plan will fail and result in a curse rather than a blessing (Genesis 27:12-13).

Source:  estudiobiblia.blogspot.com

Does this sound like the biography of a wife of noble character?

Proverbs 31 tells us that when it comes to the wife of noble character, “Her husband has full confidence in her” (Proverbs 31:11).  Not only that, but “she brings him good, not harm” (Proverbs 31:12), and “her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land” (Proverbs 31:23). 

Now, Isaac is too old and blind and sick to take his seat at the city gate, but what kind of reception do you think he would receive once the elders knew that his wife had tricked him into giving the birthright blessing to his second son Jacob in place of the first-born Esau? 

How much confidence could Isaac possibly have in a woman who schemed to give her “favorite son” this honor that amounted to legal privilege in the Middle East at this time? 

How much good could possibly come to Isaac and his family by dividing the brothers against one another, making one of them (Esau) murderous, and the other (Jacob) frightened for his life?

Further, the Proverbs 31 woman “is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come” (Proverbs 31:25).  Where does a woman get the confidence to laugh at the days to come?  It comes, Proverbs tells us, from a fear of the Lord (31:30).  When we have confidence in God’s plan, we have no need to worry about the future; Rebekah, on the other hand, manipulates her circumstances to turn the future in the direction she desires, to see her favored son honored.  But to make sure the unfavored son Esau is passed over and denied his birthright blessing is to thwart God entirely.  If His intention is to see Esau favored with the birthright blessing of the firstborn, then Rebekah has denied His Will.  If His intention is to see Esau serving under his brother, as the Lord’s prophecy during Rebekah’s pregnancy suggests, then she is thwarting His will by manipulating her circumstances to suit her own will.  Either way, Rebekah does not display the fear of the Lord that is to be praised (Proverbs 31:30).

And what is she teaching her sons about honesty, about respect for their father, about honoring their Hebrew heritage?  The woman described in Proverbs 31 “speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue” (v. 26).  Rebekah does not embody this ideal with her duplicitous behavior.  “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27).  Rebekah stays busy around her house—busy furthering her own agenda for her favored son!  She knows how to fix her husband’s food just the way he likes it (Genesis 27:15), but she puts that knowledge to a deceptive use.

“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all’” (Proverbs 31: 28-29).  Upon discovering the deception, Isaac  “trembled violently” (Genesis 27:33) and Esau “burst out with a loud and bitter cry” (Genesis 27:34)—not exactly the look and sound of blessing, by far!  No direct accusation against Rebekah appears in the Scriptures I have found, and Esau’s grudge is specifically against his brother Jacob (Genesis 27:41), but the damage of Rebekah’s conniving plan and deception are done, and it will take God’s graceful handling of the situation to undo the harm she causes.

Rebekah serves as a kind of counter-example to the Wife of Noble Character described in Proverbs 31.  If she could have balanced a concern for all members of her household, rather than protecting the interests of one favored son, then the example she presents for women, wives, and mothers throughout history would look quite different.  If she could have trusted in the Lord’s plan, and His means and timing for enacting that plan, then her story would look quite different as well. 

Can you see the elements of a modern novel or movie in this bit of Old Testament history?  I sure can!  Favoritism, sibling rivalry, betrayal, deception.  Where have you seen current-day motivations and actions that mirror what happened in Rebekah’s life story?  In what ways is this narrative still relevant for us today?  I hope you will read the original text of the story in the Book of Genesis, and consider these questions. 

Feel free to leave a comment to let me know that you’ve stopped by!

Coming Back to Center

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 "Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give you. 

I do not give to you as the world gives. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”

(John 14:27).

It doesn’t do much good to tell someone that becoming a Christian will solve all of their problems and put them on the fast path to health and prosperity.  After all, they will find out the truth soon enough—either by their own life experiences or in the words of the Bible—that Jesus never promised an easy earthly path for His followers.  In fact, He warned us pretty directly:  “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33).  No room for illusions there!

Jesus continues, though:  “But take heart!  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

I look at the swirl of daily circumstances in my life and the lives of my friends:  doctors’ appointments and medications; new schedules at the start of a new school year; concerns about caring for a child, or a parent, or both simultaneously; looking for work or heading into a new job; juggling complicated relationships.  If we all just pray and read our Bible, it will all work out.  Right?

To expect the whirlwind to settle, the problems to resolve themselves, and the pieces to fall into place just because I did my morning devotions or said my nighttime prayers is to imagine that I can achieve peace through something I, by my own efforts, have done.  That’s the same as trying to "make peace happen" for myself.  That’s the same as setting myself up for failure.

And yet prayer and time spent reading God's Word are fundamental to my walk as a Christian, fundamental to bringing me peace, fundamental to bringing me back to the joy of my salvation.  How does that work?

When I focus on the BEING rather than the DOING, the act of prayer and time spent in the scriptures can be life-changing by leading me back to the center of my peace--by BEING in God’s presence, BEING His child, BEING a part of the blessings promised to those who are united in Christ.

BEING, not DOING.

Yoga practitioners are urged to strengthen their core.  Those who meditate focus on their “center,” which is themselves and that present moment.  For the Christian--for me--that core, that center, is Christ.

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young speaks of our inner calm as our peace in God’s Presence, which “need not be shaken by what is going on around you.” Reading her words made me visualize that swirl of daily schedules, chores, routines, and relationships I mentioned earlier, and then visualize myself rooted in the center with God’ peace at my core.  “Though you live in this temporal world,” Young writes, “your innermost being is rooted and grounded in eternity.”  How do I remind myself of that foundation?  Spending time in prayer and reading God’s Word, listening for His voice, watching for His movement in my world all brings me back to eternity.

If I work to find peace in this world, I may end up looking for a lo-o-ong time.  But when I seek my peace in God’s presence—a presence accessed through prayer and time in His Word, fellowship with and service to His people, and worship of His Person—then I am able to find what I am looking for.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls”

(Matthew 11:28-29).

Developing a Heart for Service

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In Shepherding a Child’s Heart, author Tedd Tripp writes that any activity should be a means to the end of knowing God, and not an end in itself.  We shouldn’t have family worship time, for example, in order to check it off our list of “good and proper things to do,” but as a means of bringing our family closer to God.

In the same way, rather than participating in service activities as an end in itself, we can link these experiences to our role as members of God’s family acting as the hands and feet of Christ in the world.

When I talk to my daughters about the Great Shoulds—things like loving our enemies and obeying our parents and being nice to our sisters—one daughter often responds with a plaintive cry of, “But it’s too ha-aa-ard!” 

And, really, she is expressing with great honesty a cry that many adults might wish to voice when asked to go against the grain of society; to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8); to serve God by serving others. 

It IS hard. 

But Jesus spoke a very comforting truth when he told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  We find the strength and power to work for God’s glory in Christ.  In fact, we are reminded in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). 

In The Ministry of Motherhood, author Sally Clarkson reminds us that we can ask for the Holy Spirit to help us be aware of what people need most and how we can help.  As we practice looking at other people through Jesus’ eyes, and responding to their real needs as He did, our children will learn to do the same.  It pretty much always requires compassion, often requires humility, and more often than not is a little bit inconvenient, but there is no greater obedience than being part of God’s work in the world. 

Our service is an expression of our gratitude to God—for giving us life, for freeing us from sin, for making us alive in Christ.

In Mind Renewal in Mindless Age:  Preparing to Think and Act Biblically, author James Montgomery Boice spends an entire book “unpacking” Romans 12:1-2, word by word, phrase by phrase.  Take a moment to read this passage, which has so much to offer:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

When Boice comes to the phrase “your spiritual act of worship,” he points out that the Greek word for “worship”—latreia—can also mean service, and that the Greek word for “spiritual”—logikos—can also mean rational or reasonable.  So that means that offering ourselves as a living sacrifice—giving ourselves over to God and His purposes, rather than to sin and its consequences—is the logical thing to do “in view of God’s mercy” (Romans 12:1).  God is worthy of our very best efforts!

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Jesus washed the dusty feet of his disciples in part to show us that simple daily tasks that require us to sacrifice our pride and perceived positions in society fulfill God’s call to service.  His act IS God’s call to service.  We are to see Christ’s example, and follow Him. 

Serving is investing in eternity, even when we feel like we are helping out in the most mundane of ways.  “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (I John 2:17).

Driving a few bags of children’s clothing to a women’s shelter?  Investing in eternity! 

Delivering groceries to the homebound?  Investing in eternity! 

Cleaning house for a new mom?  Investing in eternity! 

We are made in God’s image; we are, as Sally Clarkson tells us, “designed to reach out to others”!  We were made to be a blessing in the lives of the people around us; we just have to set aside the distractions, temptations, and self-absorbed tendencies that threaten to sidetrack us from our purpose.

To adapt one of Sally Clarkson’s prayers:  “Lord, give us hearts that are open to serve You by serving others.”  Let this be our prayer today!

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