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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

On Time And Serving

Sometimes days are long, making us feel like time lasts forever. We know those days all too well. We wake up to a cranky kid, face daunting tasks ahead, like laundry and grocery shopping, and in the moment the day drags. But when it's all said and done, realization hits. The day sped by. We feel the day did not consist of meaning-making. Contributing to the world in a rich, satisfying way seemed impossible with such a piled-high list. That's because time is brief.

In the long and mundane of tasks we'd rather not take on, the day nears an end and we realize time wasn't long to begin with; rather, the brief time was just filled with life, with adulthood, with parenting, with wiping a runny nose every few minutes. Brief. Swift. Precious.

Thus, no matter the circumstances of the day, time is precious. The day we've been given is precious. We are told to rejoice in the day (Psalm 118:24). It's easy to wish the laundry washing, grocery shopping, counter cleaning, mess making days away. It's just as easy to let frustration rise as the day comes to a close, sometimes causing our spouses to get the brunt of our emotions. I'm guilty.

Rather than wish the mundane days away, let's work on embracing them. We've been given this day, full of towering, often unwanted tasks. Sometimes we have to be Mary and sit at the feet of Jesus, ignoring what needs accomplished for the sake of accomplishing more for our soul, more in order to know Jesus, and more that we may reflect Him. More often than not, however, we are Martha. We are the one that Jesus lovingly rebuked for complaining about Mary. We shouldn't complain when we feel we are doing the more mundane while our spouse, friend, or neighbor seems to be doing something much more valuable. Perhaps, too, we need perspective.

We forget the dirty work that serving others often entails, and we also forget that serving others may be within the home and must be within our home before it can reach others. Let's realize that every towel we fold and every sock we match has the ability to reflect a servant spirit. Aren't we called to serve others just as Jesus washed His disciples feet? Serving others with the right attitude likely shows more love than what we'd rather do throughout the day. Matching socks and washing dishes is just as important, perhaps more important, than what we'd rather be doing to influence the world around us. Serving is better than writing, than speaking, than singing, than preaching. This does not discredit the writer, the speaker, the singer, or the preacher as long as he or she possesses a spirit of serving others. It simply means true motherhood first requires serving, true craftsmanship first requires serving, true pastorship first requires serving, true _________(fill in the blank) first requires serving.

Serving is no easy task, for certain. Serving means humbling ourselves. Serving is one major way to show love, and in showing love, we reflect Christ. We reflect Christ just like we are called to do. Less of me, Lord, and more of you. 

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