Motivation makes a difference

Wikipedia says that the Protestant work ethic, often called the Puritan work ethic, is a concept which emphasizes hard work and diligence as a constant display of a person's salvation in the Christian faith, in contrast to a focus on religious attendance and ceremonial sacraments. Even though he never called it that, my father set an example to his family of this work ethic.

Another website claims that all hard work is based on guilt and that people are stressed at work because of this Puritan work ethic. While this is an interesting observation, I don’t think the fault lies with the Puritans. Rather, it lies with the fact that most people miss the underlying reason why the Puritans were diligent in their work. It was not from guilt or an effort to earn points with God, but to demonstrate that He was in charge of their lives. That is, with Him, motivations change.

To clarify, with Christ in charge of my life, even living in my heart, He changes my attitude toward work. If He was not here and not my Lord and Savior, then I could not have His attitude or find the joy in work that is available to Christian people. I would not even want to be diligent.

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” (John 5:16–17)

Jesus worked hard, even in the most humble tasks. He washed feet, healed the sick, listened and cared about people. While His ultimate goals were far greater than these ordinary methods, He never shirked from persistent labor. I often say that God never goes on vacation, and I am thankful for that. I can work or rest, but His care is always diligent and He is always available.

Jesus sets an example for me. He worked, but He also loved what He was doing and loved the people He served. What is missing in many modern workers is this motivation. In many cases, people complain about work because they do not do it for other people or for God. Their goals might include paying the bills and having enough left over for recreation. Workers who love what they do are rare, but just that makes a difference.

I’ve never worked outside the home, but work is work, wherever it is, and whether or not a paycheck comes at the end of it. For me, learning to love my “job” means allowing Jesus be Lord of my life. He is a homemaker (He is busy right now preparing a place for me, John 14:2). He is also leader of a family (and so often His children are brats) and an organizer of events to such a degree I cannot imagine it. He has all I need to help me not only love my job but do it well and do it for others because I love those whom I serve.

Jesus also had balance in His life. On more than one occasion, the Bible tells of Him being asleep, even during a storm. He sets an example in work and in rest, in worship and in responding to the voice of God. He knew that God didn’t take the Sabbath off, but kept working for the good of humanity. He also knew when His body needed to rest so He rested, giving Him renewed energy for obedience and work.

Motivated by Jesus is much different than being motivated by guilt, money or necessity. Jesus makes work a delight rather than a stressful and despised activity. He even promised the weary and heavily burdened that they would find in Him rest and a lighter load.

As I look at my to-do list for the day, I am already praying for His grace and help, and that I can practice what I preach!

Heaven is like…

I’m one of those results-oriented people. That is, if I cannot see any response or positive outcome, then I’m less inclined to continue. Learning how to persevere in obedience, regardless of visible results, is a tough lesson for me.

Today’s devotional reading begins with this verse again:

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

However, the author of the reading takes off in a rewards mode. He says that palaces on earth are built with some rooms greater and more costly than others. That is, one might be the king’s chamber, another for his heir to the crown, others for other children, their attendants and officers in the household, and still others for the servants.

He says Solomon’s temple was filled with rooms of different degrees too, such as the holy of holies where the high priest alone might enter, the holy place, where the other priests might enter, the inner court for the Levites to live and do their duties, plus the court of Israel and the court of the Gentiles.

He goes on to say that in a spiritual sense, people will have different degrees of honor and glory in heaven, and some will dwell nearer the throne than others. Some will be next to Christ. Does this mean the rooms He is preparing are of various degrees of honor? Is this about different activities like it is here where He sets people in His Body, the church as it pleases Him —one is the eye, another the ear, another the head, and so on?

My first thought was that if this is true, I will be on the outer fringes and with about the same status as my little toe. Many others have achieved much more for God. But then other verses came to mind…

And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:29–30)

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (1 Corinthians 12:21–25)

God’s value system is not the same as ours. We tend to lift up those who are honorable here on earth, who accomplish great things. While they should be respected, many Scriptures talk of how Jesus honored the weak and despised. He isn’t interested in an earthly show of godliness either and even said that His Father rewards good deeds done in secret! (Matthew 6:6, etc.)

Thinking these things upset my earlier thoughts, not that I now figure I will be close to Jesus and those far more mature and godly will be farther away, but I’ve concluded we cannot possibly know these things. We dare not add our ideas of what is grand or who is to be rewarded to the simple promise of Jesus to His confused disciples. He told them God made a heavenly dwelling place for His people and that He was going on ahead to get it ready for them.

This means no speculation about my position in the palace, only humble gratitude that I will be there and total obedience until He arranges that final move. I like surprises and I’m content to let this be one of them.

Many rooms and house cleaning

The idea of “many rooms” puts images in my head. I think of an office full of cubicles, or a building full of offices, or even West Edmonton Mall with more than 800 stores. This also reminds me of a large mansion like the Biltmore house with 250 rooms, yet from what I know about the size of the family of God, these are small numbers compared to the dwelling places in heaven.

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

This should encourage all who are afraid concerning their eternal resting place. The Lord says, “Whosoever will may come…” and He is making certain there is accommodation for all. He is preparing many rooms and created heaven as an everlasting dwelling for all who love and follow Him. This is a vast multitude. Some say tens of thousands in East Asia are coming to Christ each day. This makes my images of mansions puny compared to what He is building for His people.

Thinking back, these words were first spoken to disciples who were poor, sinful people. I wonder what they thought when they heard it. What could they imagine from “many rooms”? Did they have any inkling of what their small band would become? Did they have a clue that one day we would live in God’s many rooms, rooms enough for millions of His children?

Knowing something about the heart of God, I’m sure there will be sufficient and suitable accommodations for all sorts of persons as well. People from every nation, condition and circumstance, great sinners and moral people, weak and strong, babes in Christ and those more mature will have an eternal home. As today’s devotional reading says, there is in heaven enough for the happiness of everyone who hearkens to the call of the gospel.

For those, there are two promises regarding a dwelling place. Heaven is the eternal result for those who believe in Jesus Christ, but there is more. In doing a simple Greek word search, I discovered that this verse uses the same word as the one translated, “rooms”….

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23)

The Father and the Son, also the Holy Spirit are looking for many rooms in many hearts, yet this is a personal invitation to anyone and a statement about what happens to those who love and obey Jesus: That person is loved by God and becomes a room, an abiding place, a home for Him!

Now how is all this practical? I think of the many rooms that I have been in and how they affected my life. I also think about the many people I’ve met and know, and how each one affects my thoughts and actions. This verse about God making His home in me must be taken literally. When I let that impact me, then I cannot go anywhere or be with anyone without being aware that I am the dwelling place of God. That changes my life and so it should.

I’m also convicted that Jesus is preparing a place for me, but what kind of place have I prepared and maintained for Him? He lives here in my heart! Without trivializing this astonishing reality, it definitely makes me want to take out the garbage, clean up the clutter, polish the remaining contents, and freely offer them to His use. 

Home-making and Housekeeping

Home spawns many familiar sayings, from "Home is where the heart is" and "Peace, like charity, begins at home" to Oprah Winfrey’s, "I think that when you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself."

Bill Cosby observed that, “Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.” Is this related to Meister Eckhart’s statement, “God is at home, it's we who have gone out for a walk”?

Jesus understood the dearness of home to the human heart. He used it to illustrate eternal life and the dwelling place of God by saying,

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

The ultimate home is where God lives. Sinners who are estranged from Him have indeed “gone for a walk” and some may not even care to go home. Yet others of us long for that place. Sometimes I am caught up in the thought of eternal life with Him, even saying aloud, “I want to go home.”

More often, I say it when life is hard and because the idea of home for a Christian is in deep contrast to this alien life here on earth. Here, I am a citizen of heaven living on earth as an ambassador, and find great appeal in being with God in the place He prepares for me.

This morning, I’m again prompted to think about this heavenly home where God lives. This is not to be confused with a building or house for public worship. A church is often called “God’s house” yet it is only a building where God’s people meet. The temple of Solomon was called God’s house also for God was represented as dwelling there with His throne in the Holy of Holies.

Sometimes the whole universe is represented in Scripture as God’s house, built one story above another. But the highest heaven is represented as the house of God, reserved for himself for his own dwelling. The psalmist expressed this in verses such as, “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens” (Psalm 123:1) and “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven…” (Psalm 11:4)

There is a sense where the house of God is closer than heaven. Because He lives in His people, those who genuinely believe in Jesus Christ are called the temple of the Holy Spirit, the dwelling place of God. Collectively, we are His household living here on earth, along with the saints who have gone before us and live in His heavenly home.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19–22)

This places on me a responsibility because my role as a housekeeper has several senses. I’m engaged in keeping tidy and maintaining the structure in which I live. I must do the same for my spiritual life for Christ lives in this earthen vessel and wants my life of clay to bring Him glory. For both, I have the help and grace of the Holy Spirit.

I’m also charged with care for the Body of Christ which is His corporate dwelling place. This includes allowing other Christians to care for me. Together we can do this because of the Lord’s grace and mercy.

As for the other house, the home of God, Jesus said He is there preparing a place for us, or as my post a couple of days ago says, He is preparing an opportunity for us. For this, my participation is more about what I leave out of this life. If I clutter it up with sin or even temporary treasures, there will be less space for the treasure He gives as a down payment on my future and final home. 

Eternal Treasures

My sister’s home was flooded in June, along with thousands of others in the town where she lives. This week we put what remains of her small business back in her basement. We talked about the things we treasure and how easy it is to become caught up with ‘treasure’ that cannot last.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21)

Most of us don’t realize what we treasure or how much we value it until moth or rust or thieves or a swollen river comes and grabs it from us. This is definitely a test of the heart. When evacuation became a must in High River, some people lost everything they had except the clothes they were wearing. My sister is doing well, yet I suspect the grief hasn’t even started for many folks in her city.

Today’s devotional bids me to look forward at the treasures of eternity. The greatest will be the Person of Jesus Christ, and I am sure that wherever He is, I would be immensely joyful. However, another treasure is the place He is preparing for me. He calls it His Father’s house, a Greek term meaning God’s eternal dwelling place…

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

Some consider it a great honor to be invited to a great home such as the White House to dine with heads of state, or the mansion of a famous entertainer or sports star. I can imagine those, but to walk into the dwelling place of God surpasses my imagination.

The invitation is simple: “Whosoever will may come.” God has no list of elite or influential people and invites everyone. In fact, those who hear and respond are at the other end of the social spectrum…

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26–29)

Jesus often displayed a special concern for the broken and down-trodden, perhaps to emphasize that those who would dwell with Him forever didn’t need any special qualifications, only that they RSVP with a “Yes” and mean it, following Him with all their heart.

When all who respond arrive at His door, they will find a banquet prepared for them (I can imagine that). As we enter our eternal dwelling place, we will not look back. No matter how good life might be here, all of it will be shabby in comparison.

My sister says that no matter how her town is rebuilt, it will never be the same. Memories and vast changes will put an ache in the heart for a long time. Maybe that is a bit opposite to the change that will happen when my life here is over and I enter God’s eternal home. Instead of lamenting over what I have lost, all sorrow and any tears will be swallowed up by the wonder of seeing Jesus Christ face to face and receiving His heavenly treasures.