Can I lighten that load a bit?

As you serve the Lord, work hard and don’t be lazy. Be excited about serving him! Be happy because of the hope you have. Be patient when you have troubles. Pray all the time. Share with God’s people who need help. Look for people who need help and welcome them into your homes. (Romans 12:11-13)

Is it possible to be a little 'lazy' in our service to the Lord and his people? Of course it is! We aren't going to be 'on cue' 100% of the time, no matter how hard we try to be consistent. The heart is what matters - are we intentional in our service, focused on what God desires for us to be doing, and looking for ways to help others? Look for people who need help and then do what you can to be of help to them. This is God's plan.

Our plan may not always be the same as God's, but as long as we are making ourselves available for his use, he will reveal his plan to us. If you have ever been prompted to do something 'out of the blue' that met the need of someone around you, you have probably been listening to the prompts the Holy Spirit gives related to being 'of service' to one another. Does help always have to be physical or financial? No, it can be emotional in the form of supportive encouragement, or even spiritual in the form of praying for the other individual.

We don't want to limit God's actions through our lives, so whenever we feel we are getting a bit 'lazy' in our service, it is time to ask God to show us new ways to be engaged again. God knows we are not always going to be 'on cue' with him. He also knows there are needs all around us that he has specifically prepared us to be of use in meeting. If we are dragging our feet a little in stepping up to meet the need, he sometimes brings a bit of conviction to our inner man that almost 'stings' when we hear it. Why does it 'sting'? We knew we were being prompted and yet we didn't step forward.

Service is more than working in the nursery during church service, being a youth leader, or making the coffee for Sunday service. Service is really any action that is deemed helpful in the moment. It may very well be holding someone's hand during a difficult talk with their doctor, or even helping a widow sort through the challenges of setting things in order for a funeral service. God doesn't ask for us to be engaged in 'church work' as much as he asks for us to be sensitive to the needs of those around us every day that we might somehow lighten their load. Just sayin!

Not worthy, just available

Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. (Daniel 6:4)

Wouldn't it be grand to know someone was searching to find some 'fault' with us and they couldn't find anything? If you are looking my way, I'd have to ask you to not look too closely because I am certain you'd find something! It wouldn't be all that hard either! Faithful most of the time, pretty responsible, and doggone close to being trustworthy all of the time - but I don't hit it on the mark each and every time. Chances are you don't either. Do you know that God doesn't look at how 'perfect' we are, but at how much we are willing to trust him with our imperfections? Do we always 'measure up' to God's standards? Likely not, but he never gives up on us and we should never give up on him. 

Daniel was a good man - scripture records that for us. He was humble, not given to being the center of attention or always needing his ego stroked. He operated in the realm of wisdom, not being too quick to give an opinion, but waiting for God to help him provide the needed answer. Waiting for the right time to act and being willing to bring forward the tough message might just be one of his strongest traits. I think this is why he was held in high esteem in by King Nebuchadnezzar. His testimony remained pure in spite of all the temptation around him.

God had given Daniel a great 'talent' to interpret dreams and visions. He never used that 'talent' for his own gain, though. He could have demanded a place of great honor in the kingdom, but he was content to serve. Maybe this is the result of living a faithful, responsible, and trustworthy life - the ability and willingness to serve without honor or recognition. All the credit went back to God - the giver of the gift. I think God honors the man or woman who gives back all glory and honor to him. Daniel found it an honor to serve God wherever he was placed - in the courts of the learned or the 'treasure house' of an evil king's god. 

Where are you called to serve? Who are you called to serve? Chances are those people may not always be the most 'deserving' or 'loving' or 'kind', but they are the ones God has designed for you to serve. The places we serve may not be all that glamorous or public, but they are exactly where God wants you. The call of God in our lives may find us a little less than 'perfectly performing' as his servants on occasion, but God sees our hearts and continues to use us in ways we may not see ourselves as 'worthy' of being used. When God calls, he equips. When he gives us a gift, he doesn't look for us to be 'perfect' or 'worthy' for its use - he just looks for us to be available. Just sayin!

Under what standard will you walk

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

Confucius said if he walked with two men, he'd look at the positive example in one of them and imitate that behavior, while seeking to eliminate the negative behavior he observed while walking with the other man. I daresay that is a dangerous way to live our lives because choosing any 'standard' other than God to base our decision about what character needs to be built in our lives is living by a 'low standard'. We can see the negative traits or behavior in another and seek to eliminate similar behavior in our own, but no one is made 'well' spiritually by just eliminating what is negative and embracing what they see as positive.

God called Israel to choose to serve him - to not set their standard of living by the culture they were immersed within. They would have been in cultures where false gods were erected and worshipped. They would have seen many pagan practices that were sometimes quite vile and unwholesome. The question Joshua put before them on that day was one of 'choice' or what some of us have come to call 'preference'. Will you prefer to serve the one true God, or some other form of 'god' created by human mind and hand? It is a question of what we will hold as our example - man or God himself. 

Put away forever any other standard other than God himself - choose to serve him and him alone. This is the instruction. Too many times, we hold up examples of 'goodness' and 'evil' around us, thinking we could emulate the behavior of one and eliminate the behavior of the other just by our own power or inner will. The matter is a bit more complicated than that - for our examples are all a bit flawed when we choose any example other than Christ. Yes, we can learn from positive examples, and even observe negative ones and choose not to walk down that path in our lives. We might just lack the 'know-how' to live as God wants us to live, though.

For that, we need what is written in God's Word - just as the nation of Israel needed God's instructions so many years ago. There is no true measure by which we can see the good or evil as well as that which we find contained within the Word. We might find ourselves following a 'lower standard' than God desires for those who would choose to serve him if we choose any other standard than his Word. Just sayin!

Through a servant's eyes

Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer. After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, “If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!” (Mark 9:33-35)

We might encounter things in scripture that seem a little bit "counter-intuitive" - making it a little more difficult to really understand the intention of the passage.  Things like "stop stealing and get a job to earn your way in life" seem like easy commands to really understand - they are straight-forward and to the point.  When Jesus tells his disciples that the place of honor goes to those who will serve others, this is a little harder to grasp because the culture of the time didn't give the place of honor to the "slave" in their midst.  The slave was there for the sole purpose of ensuring the needs of those he served were met.  They weren't to think of themselves or their needs, but the one they served and whatever they would require for their comfort, protection, and well-being.  When Jesus says we move to a place of honor through service, and we get to know Jesus a little better when we embrace those who society really doesn't give much honor. God's way of doing things are much different than ours.

We cannot trust our own judgment to always be "intuitively correct".  We don't always consider things in light of God's way of seeing things. So, we need reminders about how God sees things - like the importance of putting pride aside and embracing those others.  Anne Frank said, "No one has ever become poor by giving."  Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."  Gordon B. Hinckley said, "The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired. One of the great ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served." Serving others is important because we actually get more out of it than we ever would imagine.  We don't serve to "get", but in serving we definitely "get"!  We don't give to get, but in giving we get.  We don't reach out to carry the burden of another because we want them to carry ours, but in so doing, we often feel the weight of our own burdens lighten, as well.

The way our world sees things may not be exactly the way God sees them, so trusting God with the truths he declares is important because we don't have solid examples of these truths around us all the time.  When God says service yields honor - we don't always see this in society, do we?  Sometimes people serve in military service and return home to be given anything but honor.  At other times, people serve in places of public employment, only to be looked down upon as doing the jobs which are menial and "less than honorable".  I don't know about you, but every time I crawl between the sheets of a clean bed in a hotel room, or enjoy a shower in the freshly cleaned shower, I appreciate the "service" of the one who made that bed and scrubbed that shower until it gleamed!  When I see the miles and miles of back and forth walking a waitress puts on her feet each day, cleaning up cracker crumbs and tidbits of food left by diners galore, I cannot but stand in awe of their service.  

Leo Buscaglia, a Professor of Special Education, emphasized the value and worth of those society often thought of as "challenged" and sometimes as even "damaged goods". He is quoted as saying, "It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.  May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely."  I like this!  I like his "view" on living for "something" - something which matters - which really "counts" in the end.  The thing is - what really "counts" in God's eyes doesn't always "count" the same way here on this earth.  So, we need to be less concerned with how other people think about what we "do" and how we "serve", but what God wants us to do and how he wants us to serve.  Only then will we be fulfilling the place God has for us in this walk we call life!  Just sayin!

Going all in

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” (I Peter 1:15-16)

We are faith-filled risk-takers intent on being holy as our God is holy. Does that describe you? We all come to Christ exactly as we are - none of us is better than any other person - all are able to be faith-filled risk-takers intent on being holy IN CHRIST JESUS. We receive this gift of 'new life' and almost without us realizing it, do you know what God does within us? He 'pulls us into a way of life shaped by god's life'. Now that should make all of us more than just a little bit hopeful, my friends. We have been given a gift we did not deserve, are filled with a faith we could never muster on our own, and we walk anew in a power not our own.

Our part - we put our minds in gear. In other words, we stop living a lazy, haphazard lives that are 'hit and miss' kind of existences. We begin to live purposeful lives that seek to put shame in the past where it belongs and enter into grace in the present because grace is what helps us be 'all in' with Jesus. You know what sets a believer apart? We are known what we stand FOR, not more than what we stand AGAINST. We stand for righteousness. We stand for purity. We stand for love and unity. We stand for hope. In reality, by what we stand FOR we are really standing AGAINST all those things that oppose those things!

With minds in gear, we learn to stand strong. We won't slip back into the darkest parts of our lives if we are engaging our minds in this walk. If we think we can walk 'mindlessly' in this Christian walk, think again. In fact, begin to think like you have never thought before! Faith-filled, risk-taking believers aren't afraid to allow Christ to fill their minds with the messages of hope and peace and joy that he wants to place within the 'walls' of our minds. He also wants to build up those walls with his Word so that we won't just 'mindlessly' entertain any old thought that comes along.

We are 'pulled into' a new life in Christ Jesus. It isn't all that easy for Christ to let go, so don't worry that his grip will slip! We aren't going to stumble and fall when we take risks with Jesus. When we step out in ways he asks us to step out, even when we don't feel like we know how or have the ability to 'go all in' he is there pulling us onward. How many times do we allow our minds talk our hearts out of doing what we know God is asking us to do? If we want to go all in with Christ this year, then our first step will be to begin to engage our minds in this walk like we never have before. Purposefully choosing to follow each step of the way. Just sayin!