How Do You Work?

Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Ephesians 6:7

I've mentioned before, once or twice, that I have the honor and privilege of serving some of the weirdest, stubborn, collection of oddballs God brought together under the banner of the Richland County Sheriff's Department.  I have watched this family come together to support one another in times of grief and pain, and I have been part of this same family praying for each other. 

One of the things that stands out about those who are part of this family, is the enthusiasm with which they go about their duties!  True, every single one will have those "wilderness" times when things just get all out of whack, and these are the times we need to step back and regroup.

I always look forward to Fridays to see the photos of the Deputies giving the children High-Fives as they enter the schools.  The smiles and enthusiasm are addictive and contagious!  

Let me put a different perspective on this: When I am enthusiastic about a what I get to do, my day FLIES by!  When I am not so enthused (having to sit in endless meetings, classes, etc.) then my day drags!  Two options to the same 9 hours each day.  

What good is it to try to impress enough to get another certificate or trophy or some trinket?  They only represent moments in time.  When we remember that we work for God then it's His reward we will receive which will represent our entire life's work for all eternity!  Which would you prefer?

 

Change of Focus

This is the day the Lord has made.
    We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 

 

We don't like change.  Because that means we will have to change our routine.  And our routine is our comfort zone, we can go through our routine without thinking.  Yet God gave us a brain in order that we may think.  So you can begin to see the vicious circular pattern here.  And when we get stuck in that cycle of just muddling through, we become irritable, cranky, frustrated about everything and everyone, we become negative people because changing our negative view of the world and its inhabitants means......(dun, dun, dahhhh) CHANGE!

 

Now, refill your coffee and brace yourself.  I challenge each and every one of you to make a positive change in your perspective!  Consider this:  God made today.  He didn't have to, but he chose to.  You get to be part of this day. because God loves you enough that He wants you to share in today.  He didn't have to, but He did.  So.....if you still want to be crabby, irritated, hateful, and just cranky about life and everyone in it, you have just taken God's gift to you, stomped on it, and have thrown it back in His face! 

 

TODAY is the day the Lord has made for us!  Yesterday is NOT today!  Tomorrow is NOT today!  Only TODAY is today!  Celebrate and thank God for TODAY! 

Load Too Heavy Yet?

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 

 

 Way back when I was in the Army, our diabolical Drill Sergeants had pounded into us that when one wins ALL are winners and when one fails ALL pay the price.  And guess what we finally figured out?  When one of us won, that meant the rest of us had failed and we had to bare the punishment.  I told you they were diabolical!

 

In order to teach us teamwork, they had a telephone pole which we were expected to pick up and carry with us throughout the "Day of Punishment."  When it was chow time, we had to either eat in shifts or learn to eat one handed, because our friend the Pole was not permitted to touch the ground.  Thankfully, our platoon happened to be quick studies and it didn't take us long to learn to work together as a single unit.

 

There are no words which could possibly express the relief when we finally got to "Put The Pole To Bed." Nor are there words which can accurate describe the aching muscles we experienced for the following three days.  I found it rather odd that our Chaplain chose the Sunday of after we put the pole to bed to share with us Matthew 11:28-30.

 

Here I am, years later, remembering that enormous burden we carried and remembering the burden of the sins I carry (my past, my present, my actions, my words, my thoughts), that pole cannot compare to the burden of sin.  Yet, Jesus invites us to "Put The Pole To Bed" and take his lightweight yoke (love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; Love your neighbor as yourself).  Which would be easier to carry?

Tired Of Coming Up Short?

²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 3:20-24 

 If you were anything like me, when I reached that age of "awareness" I wanted to be like everyone else.  Why? Because I wanted to fit in!  What 12 year old (and above) wants to be that kid that's "weird" or "different" or "odd"?  Not THIS kid!  But try though I might, I never really seemed to fit in.  I just wanted to be like everyone else (as I perceived them).

Well, here's a nugget of news I learned years later:  We are ALL alike!  We are ALL in the same clique, and there are NO outsiders!  Why? Because we are ALL sinners and have fallen short of God's standard! Yep....every last one of us.  We are all piled up along the track of life, never quite reaching God's standard.  How sad is that?

However, God loves us SO much that he has provided a way for us to meet His standard!  Through Jesus Christ, God freed us from the penalty of not being good enough!  Jesus paved the way for us to finally be good enough in God's eyes (the only eyes that matter).  God made this available free to us.  Such a free gift is beyond value, yet many simply refuse to accept it.  

But I will simply tell you this from my experience, once you have experienced the true love and forgiveness of God through Christ, you will crave it forever! 

Teach The Children Well

Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. 

Deuteronomy 11:19 

Guess whose job it is to teach children?  Who gets to teach them respect for others?  Who is supposed to teach them about love for others?  Who is the teacher of conflict resolution to children?  Are you sitting down?  WE ARE!!!!  

I can hear it now: "I don't have kids!"  "My children are grown with children of their own." "Those aren't MY children."

I was in an electronics store recently to purchase a charger for my phone when I noticed a child about the age of 8 or 9 demanding that his father buy him a new iPad.  The father told his son that the iPad he already had was only 6 months old, to which the child screeched that this new iPad did more than his "old" one and Dad better buy it for him.  Sadly, I watched this defeated man use four credit cards to find enough credit to purchase this item his child had demanded. 

Guess what?  God didn't ask whose child they are because WE are ALL God's children!  Therefore, those who are older should teach those who are younger.  And guess what is the best teaching method for most children?  They follow the example of others!  Therefore, WE are ALL to teach children about respect for others; WE are ALL to teach children about love for others; WE are ALL to teach children about getting along with each other; WE are ALL to teach children about conflict resolution....WE are ALL to teach children!

Why?  Because if WE refuse to teach children, guess who will?  Want a hint? Turn on the television where children are in charge and parents are idiots with an open wallet. 

Why Choose To Hate?

So God created human beings in His own image

In the image of God He created them

male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:27

Question: Given that we have been made in the image of God, why do we insist on hating someone else?  What is it about others that generates so much hatred and anger?  I have heard a number of answers (because they are crooks, because their ancestors may or may not have harmed my ancestors, because of their job, because they won't let me do whatever I want whenever I want even if it's illegal, etc.), yet the real underlying cause for pretty much all of us....because they are different from us.  That's the bottom line!  We hate because of our differences while ignoring our commonalities!

The Apostle Paul jumped right into this scrape by reminding the Galatians, "There is NO LONGER Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female.  FOR YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS!"(Galatians 3:28).  That pretty much takes the wind out of our hatred sails, doesn't it?  We are more alike than we are different!

As a matter of fact, just how alike are we?  Take a look at Isaiah 53:6 - "We ALL like sheep have gone astray; WE ALL have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [Christ] the iniquity of US ALL."  You see, the thing we have in common is far greater than the differences in our complexion or hair color or ancestry or any other physical attribute!  Our commonality is that we are ALL equally guilty of sin!  As such, we are ALL equally going to die.  And guess what?  The grave holds saint and sinner alike until Jesus' return!

Imagine a world where we focused on such things as loving others as we love ourselves and treating others like we want to be treated.  Sound impossible?  It starts with one person....YOU! 

I Just Couldn't Help Myself

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. 
And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

 

How many times have we said, "I just couldn't help myself"?  I know I'm don't need to snack, but the pie was RIGHT THERE and (say it with me) "I just couldn't help myself."  Let's face it, if we didn't like sin then temptation would not be a problem.  However, sin feels good temporarily and it's fun temporarily, therefore we give in again and again.

 

Think about it this way, if every time you gave into temptation broke your pinky toe...it wouldn't take long to learn not to give in to temptation. But we are a stubborn species, are we not?  We are willing to endure consequence after consequence in order to have a few fleeting moments of pleasure.  Let me be blunt, how many marriages have failed because one spouse gave into temptation and for a few brief moments of pleasure destroyed the bonds of marriage?

 

But look at today's passage, there is NO temptation that is brand new!  There is NO temptation that has never been experienced before!  As the writer of Ecclesiastes points out, "there is nothing new under the sun."  AND God always has an exit strategy available to us!  So we lost any excuse we could offer! Sometimes that exit strategy is as simple as following the example of Joseph in Genesis 39 when he literally ran away from the temptation.

 

God helps us by taking away our excuses because He provides a way for us to resist.  Therefore, focus on Him and let the temptations of this world fade away!