Have you ever faced an unwanted chore and felt as if it were the last thing on earth you wanted to do? Mowing the awn, doing the wash, cleaning the house, or even preparing a Sunday school lesson after an exhausting week can make us feel like procrastinating.
When this happens, my wife and I have a motto we repeat to each other: "I don't feel like it - but I'm going to do it anyway." There is something about recognizing our lack of motivation and then choosing to be responsible that helps us follow through.
God's value on faith and obedience can be seen in the parables of Jesus. Christ spoke about two sons who were asked to work in the vineyard. The first said no, but "afterward he regretted it and went" (Matt. 21:29). The second said yes, but did not follow through. The the Lord asked His listeners, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" (v.31). The obvious answer is the one who finished the task.
Our Lord's illustration underscores a key spiritual principle. God is interested in our faith and obedience - not just our good intentions. Next time you are tempted to shirk your duties, why not say, "I don't feel like it," and then ask God for the grace to do it anyway.
"Dennis Fisher"
O help us, Lord, to heed your Word,
Its precepts to obey;
And give us strength to quench the urge
To do things our own way.
"Sper"
Obedience is faith in action.
"Our Daily Bread" - Oct 28/07
Getting into God's stride
Enoch walked with God.
Genesis 5:24
The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights
(cf. John 1:36). It is a painful business to get through into the stride of God, it means getting your second wind spiritually. In learning to walk with God there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride; but when we have got into it, the only characteristic that manifests itself is the life of God. The individual man is lost sight of in his personal union with God, and the stride and the power of God alone are manifested.
It is difficult to get into stride with God, because when we start walking with Him we find He has outstripped us before we have taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined into His ways. It was said of Jesus - "He shall not fail nor be discouraged," because He never worked from His own individual standpoint but always from the standpoint of His Father, and we have to learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned by atmosphere, not by intellectual reasoning. God's Spirit alters the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and things begin to be possible which never were possible before. Getting into the stride of God means nothing less than union with Himself. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don't give in because the pain is bad just now, get on with it, and before long you will find you have a new vision and a new purpose.
“Heartlight” - Oct 12/07
