It snowed last night.
It wasn't much, really...but it was just enough to create yet another assignment that screamed silently through the glistening white layer of winter wonder on the driveway...'Shovel me...NOW!'.
Charlette had to get to her job. David had already left for his...and it wasn't even 6:00 in the morning, yet. If I left that one or so inch layer on the drive, our tires would smash it down into a well packed glaze of ice later in the day...just about the time Charlette would be making her way back up the driveway. From experience we know that if that happens, there is no getting anyone's car in the garage much less walking up to the front door. Talk about a slippery slope!
Got my coat, put on some warm socks, threw on a neon orange knit hat, slipped into my boots and got to shoveling. Even light snow can get heavy as it piles into the shovel and is forced to the side of the drive. You can't avoid pushing and throwing, pushing and throwing. It is a constant motion that is repeated time and time again. I noticed something as I shoveled. I had no choice but to stoop over. I wondered if shovels are made to the height of the 'shoveler' to ease the load on a middle aged back! As I pondered this weighty thought, a Bible verse came to mind...surprised me too...
"Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of the ox comes an abundant harvest." Proverbs 14:4
In other words, if you want to see a result, you have to be willing to put some work into the project. It may not be easy. It may not be pretty. It may not be fun. No wonder it is called 'work'! I began to think about the assignment of an ox. Really simple. Get hitched up and start pulling the plow or the load. If the ox is not about his assignment, the 'manger' (the place for the storage and the distributing of grain) is empty. It was the oxen that were assigned by King David to pull the most holy Hebrew artifact that symbolized the presence of God in their midst, the Ark of the Covenant. When the ox shows up for his assignment, ready to plow the field or to pull his load, you can look forward to some results that will make the work invested rewarding and then some. Oxen may be thought of as ugly brutes, but you just gotta' have them!
Jesus made an interesting statement when He said, "My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too, am working", (John 5:17). Jesus never missed a work assignment throughout His earthly ministry. As He faced the Cross and His coming execution, He spoke to the Father who sent Him and gave this startling word of applied truth; "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave Me to do", (John 17:4). In just the measured time of 33 years, Jesus could say with utmost sincerity and integrity that He had carried out His mission. It is no wonder that as He breathed His last, His final and lasting redemptive assignment about to be completed, He cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). He showed up on time, and finished the needed 'work' that ransomed the spiritually helpless and eternally lost.
The Bible says that there will come a time that our 'work will be shown for what it is...the fire will test the quality of each man's work," (1 Corinthians 3:13). Jesus said that when He comes again (and that will be soon!) that, "My reward is with Me, and I will give to every man according to what he has done", (Revelation 22:12). The Scripture is not shy about God's expectation of the completion of our life assignments and the attitude in which we offer to our Creator and those He loves, (that is everyone) our finest in effort; ""Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward" (Colossians 3:23-24).
So, in the midst of shoveling in the dark of morning, I realized that...
1. No task in unimportant, no matter how small or significant.
2. What I do must be motivated by the honor God will receive and the need it will meet for another.
3. When I complete my 'assignment', my work produces a result that God takes note of.
4. I can expect the difficult & challenging to translate into personal growth, character building, sweat and soreness.
5. I must be about the 'Father's business' to maximize my life...that does not mean always speaking from a church podium, it may mean changing a diaper, folding clothes, putting gas in my kid's car, smiling at the cashier, assisting my Neighborhood Association, engaging in spiritual conversations, or shoveling the driveway for my bride...
6. Work becomes opportunity. Opportunity to make the quality of His love known. Opportunity to leave His impression on the hearts and lives of others. Opportunity to bring glory to Him by completing our daily assignments with joy and as a personal act of constant worship.
Its OK to be like 'ox like'! As a matter of fact, God prefers that we live with 'ox like' qualities. Jesus said that smart folk work 'while it is still day because the night comes when no man can work'. So today, get to shoveling! Roll up your sleeves. Pull up your chair. Jump on your assignment. Sweat a little. There will come a day (maybe sooner than you would have thought) when you will hear from Him; "Well done! You are a good and faithful servant (worker). Come and enjoy your Master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21).
On that day, I will forget all about snow and shovels!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Uncluttered
This is it.
Our youngest child is about to go off to college. Well, he is no longer a 'child' in the strictest sense of the word, but he is the youngest of our five young adult kids. I will miss him...a lot. Although I will miss him when it is time to pull out of the driveway on that dreaded trip to the dorm room this weekend...I am glad of one thing in all of this...
He is taking his stuff with him...and he has tons of stuff, (not like my daughter had when she went off to college...but that is another story for another time). He has computer stuff. He has electronic stuff. He has video gaming stuff. He has 'airsoft' stuff, (that is the gear and the equipment that guys run around the woods with while shooting each other with rubber bb's). All this stuff does not even include his stereo stuff, his clothes, linens and towels...and the mini-fridge and microwave that he has in his room here at the house. This young man has some stuff!
In organizing his stuff and arranging what is needed and what is not so needed, the truth is that some clutter has been discovered. Imagine that! After years of enjoying the homestead, things have kind of piled up in the closet, drawers and other places. It just kind of happens. We all can relate. Things that we once needed or used have been replaced with other things that we need or use as the years go by...and then you have to clear the clutter, the un-essentials so to speak, keeping the useful, the endearing and the necessary.
I would hate to have to admit the times that I have sorted through the clutter in my closet, on my chester drawers, in my desk and through my files. That does not even include my garage or my car trunk, computer case and basement storage room. If there was ever a 'King of Clutter', I may win the title and take home the trophy to be stored with all my other stuff!
Closets can be like hearts. They can become cluttered to the point of suffocation. They can be overrun with so much 'stuff' that to add anything new or necessary may demand a reassessment of what is really important and what is just not. The closet may just have to be cleared out completely and arranged to make room for the needed and new. Hearts and spirits can use the same attention. Is there a better time than the beginning of a New Year, (or a new semester) to delve deeper into the clutter that may have taken up space that could and should be reserved for something better and of more excellence?
The Apostle Paul may have been encouraging the church at Ephesus to take a careful inventory of their lives when he said; "You were taught , with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by sinful desires, and to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24
What are the 'old' attitudes, values, experiences and loyalties that have cluttered your life, stifling your heart and stolen your spiritual joy and effectiveness? Maybe you cleared the 'closet' of your heart and mind before, but you have left yourself unkempt, unintentionally but actually polluting your life with compromise that has drained your vitality for the things of the Lord. Is this the time for you to do a 'clean sweep' through your spirit, re-aligning your life priorities to the Christ Who has redeemed you by His grace and goodness? Its true, there are some things that need to go! One thing you can count on, when you are putting on the 'new' in Christ, you will not multiplying clutter, you will be enjoying renewal! What can be more rewarding than to experience God's character forming in the once cluttered but now cleared and clean out heart?
One fact about a cluttered life...worthwhile, Christ-centered relationships that stimulate your love for the Father and prompt you to be invested in His agenda of loving others to Him should have plenty of room in your heart. Attitudes, baggage, regrets, things as well as a darkened thought life and heart ponderings must go...but people who encourage you to live in the light of the 'new' person that you are in Christ must be welcomed, appreciated and enjoyed. Take time to be the kind of person that you need others to be in your life in 2008! Be certain to remove all that is not akin to your new nature in Christ...others both need and are encouraged when His righteousness and holiness is actively inspiring in them a desire for an uncluttered life.
David will soon be off to pursue the dreams that the Spirit has birthed in his spirit. His room will be empty and his closets will be cleared. His room will be a clutter free room...until summer. I owe him. I am marked with gratitude to him for these 19 years of blessing, joy and memory making that he has instigated in the Weber household. I may have to trash the clutter that has now been cleared for the big move...but I will cling to the joy that this young son has given to his middle aged Dad...and look for his headlights in the driveway. His stuff may be gone, but he will always come home...and I can't wait!
I look forward to the 'new' men in Christ that both of us will become in 2008.
Our youngest child is about to go off to college. Well, he is no longer a 'child' in the strictest sense of the word, but he is the youngest of our five young adult kids. I will miss him...a lot. Although I will miss him when it is time to pull out of the driveway on that dreaded trip to the dorm room this weekend...I am glad of one thing in all of this...
He is taking his stuff with him...and he has tons of stuff, (not like my daughter had when she went off to college...but that is another story for another time). He has computer stuff. He has electronic stuff. He has video gaming stuff. He has 'airsoft' stuff, (that is the gear and the equipment that guys run around the woods with while shooting each other with rubber bb's). All this stuff does not even include his stereo stuff, his clothes, linens and towels...and the mini-fridge and microwave that he has in his room here at the house. This young man has some stuff!
In organizing his stuff and arranging what is needed and what is not so needed, the truth is that some clutter has been discovered. Imagine that! After years of enjoying the homestead, things have kind of piled up in the closet, drawers and other places. It just kind of happens. We all can relate. Things that we once needed or used have been replaced with other things that we need or use as the years go by...and then you have to clear the clutter, the un-essentials so to speak, keeping the useful, the endearing and the necessary.
I would hate to have to admit the times that I have sorted through the clutter in my closet, on my chester drawers, in my desk and through my files. That does not even include my garage or my car trunk, computer case and basement storage room. If there was ever a 'King of Clutter', I may win the title and take home the trophy to be stored with all my other stuff!
Closets can be like hearts. They can become cluttered to the point of suffocation. They can be overrun with so much 'stuff' that to add anything new or necessary may demand a reassessment of what is really important and what is just not. The closet may just have to be cleared out completely and arranged to make room for the needed and new. Hearts and spirits can use the same attention. Is there a better time than the beginning of a New Year, (or a new semester) to delve deeper into the clutter that may have taken up space that could and should be reserved for something better and of more excellence?
The Apostle Paul may have been encouraging the church at Ephesus to take a careful inventory of their lives when he said; "You were taught , with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by sinful desires, and to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24
What are the 'old' attitudes, values, experiences and loyalties that have cluttered your life, stifling your heart and stolen your spiritual joy and effectiveness? Maybe you cleared the 'closet' of your heart and mind before, but you have left yourself unkempt, unintentionally but actually polluting your life with compromise that has drained your vitality for the things of the Lord. Is this the time for you to do a 'clean sweep' through your spirit, re-aligning your life priorities to the Christ Who has redeemed you by His grace and goodness? Its true, there are some things that need to go! One thing you can count on, when you are putting on the 'new' in Christ, you will not multiplying clutter, you will be enjoying renewal! What can be more rewarding than to experience God's character forming in the once cluttered but now cleared and clean out heart?
One fact about a cluttered life...worthwhile, Christ-centered relationships that stimulate your love for the Father and prompt you to be invested in His agenda of loving others to Him should have plenty of room in your heart. Attitudes, baggage, regrets, things as well as a darkened thought life and heart ponderings must go...but people who encourage you to live in the light of the 'new' person that you are in Christ must be welcomed, appreciated and enjoyed. Take time to be the kind of person that you need others to be in your life in 2008! Be certain to remove all that is not akin to your new nature in Christ...others both need and are encouraged when His righteousness and holiness is actively inspiring in them a desire for an uncluttered life.
David will soon be off to pursue the dreams that the Spirit has birthed in his spirit. His room will be empty and his closets will be cleared. His room will be a clutter free room...until summer. I owe him. I am marked with gratitude to him for these 19 years of blessing, joy and memory making that he has instigated in the Weber household. I may have to trash the clutter that has now been cleared for the big move...but I will cling to the joy that this young son has given to his middle aged Dad...and look for his headlights in the driveway. His stuff may be gone, but he will always come home...and I can't wait!
I look forward to the 'new' men in Christ that both of us will become in 2008.
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