Morning girls! Hope you are all finding ways to stay cool!!
Lots of reading, studying and discussing going on around my house lately about serving others. We have been using Christ's sermon on the mount as our example. Ouch! I must confess that I have always thought I was a pretty good servant. I really do enjoy taking care and serving my children and Terry. But yesterday Christ and His word put me firmly in my place about just how truly rotten I am. He showed me a picture of my motives for serving. I hate to admit I am fairly choosy to whom I serve. If it comes to serving someone difficult, I am not the first to sign up for that. Sadly, Christ does not give us an escape clause. He does not say serve the ones you love, like or appreciate. He does not say to love the ones who are like you. He doesn't even say serve all unless they hurt you then you can be excused. Nope! Christ commands love to all, serve all, be gracious to all, forgive all and judge none! I had a moment in the car where I was really giving Him a piece of my mind about these difficult people I was having to love and serve. Then, as only the Holy Spirit can do He showed me a picture of a missionary. A missionary who loved God and wanted to serve Him by serving others in Africa. This missionary gets to Africa and finds a group of people in desperate need of love and mercy and food. Only there are too many. So the missionary calls the group of people together and begins to divide them up. She first separates them into the clean and unclean. She dismisses the unclean. From the clean she divides them into pretty and not so pretty. She sends the not so pretty home. From there she continues to set apart those who have shown her gratefulness and those who seem apathetic. The apathetic are sent away. She is left with a tiny group of people to serve. But she can serve them cause they are easy and lovely and grateful and love her back. Sounds crazy right?? But that is a picture of what I do. SINFUL!! Christ showed me that when He offered me salvation I was ugly, ungrateful and dirty. I still am. In Hebrews 5, the Bible speaks of a priest being able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. There. I have been firmly and squarely dealt with. I have been convicted and set straight. God has spoken! To not repent, to not bend my knee and my will is not only rebellious and selfish but treacherous to those around me who follow after me, mainly my children. They are watching me serve those difficult ones. Am I serving with a right heart before them? Or do I feel I have been slighted and that I am entitled to better? What I must continually remind myself is I am entitled to hell, and nothing more, ever! I have been shown such kindness in the midst of my selfishness, how dare I not give that same grace to others. Who am I to declare who is worthy of "my grace"? I am building a city on a hill with a candle in it that is constantly being battered and blown by the enemy who wants me to come down off this hill and build a home all for myself in the dark. It is a fight against the flesh daily and we must never stop allowing our flesh to meet up against God's words. It is the only way we can move up that hill, to draw others to Him. Praise Him that He never leaves us to ourselves. Praise Him that He disciplines us before we make a mess out of every relationship within our reach. I share so personally with you because I want you to grow with me, to keep walking this way with me. So that we may all be a city on a hill.........
Pressing On
Carrie
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