Off? On? Pause?

My household employs two robots. Nothing fancy. One of them will dust and wash the floors. The other is a vacuum cleaner that magically stops itself from falling downstairs and redoes edges and corners just to be sure all the dust is gone.

While people like having robots to make their work easier, no one wants to be one, even though some of us go into “automatic” mode when doing routine chores. Being a robot is not God’s choice for us either. He says this:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3–8)

This passage tells me that the Lord made full provision for my spiritual life but all the divine resources He gives do not make me a robot. I am responsible to avail myself of His blessings. Otherwise I will be “ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

My robots are not living things, yet like me, they are totally useless if I don’t plug them into a power source and push the right buttons. That is, when God calls me to serve someone, I need to get off my chair, lift my hands, move my body so I am doing what He asks me to do, relying on His power to do it.

This seems simple stuff yet it is not always that simple. The above passage mentions corruption in the world caused by sinful desire. It also mentions that faith needs to be supplemented with virtue (the word means ‘excellence’) and virtue with knowledge. That takes work. It does not come with the push of a button. Neither do the other qualities that enable Christians to be effective and fruitful. Knowing Jesus is just the beginning.

This is not new stuff, but today I need to be reminded of my responsibilities. I feel lazy, full of ‘I wants’ and not particularly eager to hear any commands from God. This is not burn out that comes from intense obedience; it is an attack of “I-don’t-want-to-it is” that comes from the flesh.

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Lord, I confess my lack of ambition toward You today. I’d do better if I was a robot, but that is not how life with You works. Prayer is needed, as is the Holy Spirit. You have done Your best. At the least, I need to push a few buttons.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- the amazing promise from God that I have all I need.

- a restful day; outside blanketed with snow and inside blanketed with a quilt.

- my hubby is purging his office file cabinets.

- another charity quilt top finished.

- a brief chat with our granddaughter in Mexico.

- leftovers and not having to cook.