HEBREWS 12:2 – Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
PHILIPPIANS 3:13a – Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it on my own. But one thing I do . . . .”
THEME OF THE DAY: ONE THING I DO. Do you ever wish this were true? Just wake up in the morning, quite refreshed, go through the mental checklist, smile, and say, “Yes, only one thing to do today.” I am not that type of person. Maybe you are, but I doubt it. Do such people even exist? Maybe we are another type of person – the one who crawls out of bed NOT REFRESHED due to the full checklist of things to do which flooded our minds throughout the night. This late-night guest keeping us company goes by the name of “racing mind” and rarely slows down. Our guest usually comes to visit between two and four in the morning. But there is still another type of person. The “busy beaver” with the packed planner driven by busyness with about twenty-six hours’ worth of things to do in a day destined to be only eighteen hours long. I say “eighteen” to give us the grace of at least six hours for little things like food and maybe sleep. We are probably more like person two and three from the types of people I just mentioned and more the third.
Simply put. Busy, busy, and busier we are! But I’m not writing today about being busy. Save that for another time when I am not so busy. Being busy may not be the problem; being focused on the right thing in the busyness may be the problem. When I think of the word “busy” in life, it’s attached to the word “demands” – personal demands upon me. That is true for all of us. Our full plates usually focus on meeting the needs of others – provider responsibilities as breadwinners and role responsibilities as dad, mom, husband, wife, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, friend, neighbor, church, etc. Nothing wrong there. Those are God-given responsibilities. Demands upon us for service to others come from Him. But though that is divine truth, we are not immune to the heaviness and weariness which busy demands by others place upon us.
Do you think the greatest Christian who ever lived felt the weight of busy demands upon him? Perhaps even feeling just a little overwhelmed with being in the constant give, give, give, and give more of himself mode? Yes, I believe the Apostle Paul did. Start with 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 and if that isn’t enough to see an overwhelmed heart, keep going to 2 Corinthians 12:15 ‘ “I will gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” The words “spend” and “spent” in their figurative meanings are tough to swallow. I hope you are sitting down. Here is what Paul is saying, “I am very happy to be worn out, exhausted, and destroyed by being busy in meeting the necessary demands of others.” Even Paul in terms of being “worn out, exhausted and destroyed” would have felt what we feel with the ever-present demands upon us, but it did not become his focus. And that is the key. Where are we looking during those “high volume” times of demands for our attention and service? If the gaze is directed exclusively toward the demands, we are doomed to joyless service.
How did Paul exhaust himself for others with joy? He looked at Jesus and kept on looking. Let’s combine the references today into one solid truth making busy demands people place upon us a delight of service. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Looking to Jesus” and Paul says, “One thing I do” . . . a great combination to start the day is simply this; it is the whisper of a simple prayer before our feet hit the floor from our beds. You may word it something like this, “Lord, one thing I do today is look at You. I gaze upon You with simple faith and trust, and know that You, my Savior, came to serve, not to be served. I, in the power of Your Spirit and the awareness of Your presence, will walk like You meeting the many demands upon me, and may I show people what a wonderful Provider and Sustainer You are. Allow my eyesight to stay clear throughout my day, fixed on You.”
Prayer: “Lord, teach me to always keep an eye on You that I might walk aware of Your presence and in Your joy.”
Quote: “When Christ’s love controls our hearts, sacrificial service for others always occurs.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim