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.

How can a life be summed up in a few words?

Yesterday I noticed two boxes in my storage room. They are filled with notebooks — my devotional thoughts from many years before using the computer and storing them in digital files. This is my life in communion with Christ. I may have some reference to moving from place to place, raising three children, birthday parties, dinners with friends, vacations, leisure activities, and a host of other activities, but not the full account. How would I summarize dozens of years?

Today ends a devotional reading that summarize the New Testament. Thirty days of short notes hardly do justice to this Book of books. How can the life of the early church be summarized? How can the life of Christ be edited to a few words? The Apostle John didn’t even try. He said:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25)

Peter tried to do it also:

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:38–43)

Paul offered many short summary statements like this one:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3–5)

As for the church, the summary I like the best is this one telling of the changes that happened because “in the fullness of time” God sent His Son to redeem sinners:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9–11)

“And such were some of you.” This is the good news, the assurance that no matter what a person has done, the Lord Jesus Christ died to forgive, to redeem, to justify and sanctify, to make us children of God and inheritors of His kingdom.

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Lord Jesus, Your Book is rich with narrative, truth, instruction and all I need to know and walk with You. it gives me comfort, encouragement, hope and grace. I’m forgiven, changed and being changed. Life is rich and full of meaning, a great adventure because of You and because You communicate with me through the marvel of both the Old and New Testament. Thank You for speaking, for revealing Yourself in this way that I might see You in the pages of Your Word.

Selfishness does not pass the test

This week I challenged a few people to ask God in the morning to give them that day what they need the most. And then pay attention. From personal experience I know that He could surprise with a blessing but He could also surprise with a rebuke.

In doing this, I’m sometimes distressed at my reactions when I ask God for something I need but don't get what I want or expect. Instead of trusting him, I realize how stuck I am in wanting to run my own life.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’” (Matthew 16:24–26)

Tozer says, “Affections that do not terminate on God, terminate on self. Men who do not seek the things that are Jesus Christ’s, seek their own. Inordinate self-love is the ruling passion of their hearts and the governing principle of their lives.”

Tozer is right. I remember a woman who professed to be a Christian yet she said how much she loved to help people because “it makes me feel so good.” In pondering her reasoning I realized that so much of Christian service is based on what I want or what makes me feel good or what looks good to others rather than what will glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

One day Jesus will bring me before a throne of judgment. Christians will not be judged concerning salvation but concerning the quality of the work that they have done.

“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:11–15)

The Bible says anything I’ve done that has no value in the will of God will be lost. This includes all those things I’ve done that are very selfish and those where I want the glory rather than bringing glory to Jesus. What shame I will feel standing before Christ watching most of the work that I've done go up and smoke because I did them for my own sake.

If anyone thinks this is easy, try going for even half a day without thinking about your own profit, or thinking, ‘what is in this for me?’ This is why we need a Savior. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Without Him our lives miss the mark. Without Him we have no hope of pleasing God.

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Lord Jesus, I am so thankful that You are my Savior. I am so thankful that my eternal life is not based on my old self but on the basis of You and what You have done for me. I realize I've been stubborn. I've not allowed You in. I’ve not allowed You to work through me the way I should. Thank You for your mercy and grace thank You for loving me because of who You are rather than what I do. Praise your name.