I Am Here To Serve

"Do I have to?" As a parent I am sure you are all to familiar with those words. When you ask your children to pick their clothes up of the floor, put their toys away, brush their teeth, get ready for school, do their homework; their response is often a slightly whiny "do I have to?" Isn't that IRRITATING! Then I realized I was saying that same little whiny phrase to God when he asked me to do things. When I wake up to go to work one of my first thoughts was "do I have to?". Or when I felt God tugging at me to share him with someone, I thought "do I have to Lord?" How about when God tells me I'm the one who should apologize. Yep, you guessed it, that same irritating phrase.

 1 peter 5:2-4 says 

"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them-not because you must, but because you are willing,as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve. not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."

We work to provide but God tells us I have provided this work for YOU! It is our opportunity to serve that which God has entrusted us with. We find ourselves going through the motions of life doing just enough to get by. I work with a doctor who walks into the operating room and exclaims, "I am here to serve!" Wow! what an attitude to have at work and in life. How many of you walk into work in the morning and proclaim "I am here to serve!" Don't feel bad if you don't, I wasn't doing that either. But think of how work might be different if everyone was there to serve. Think of the world and how different it would be if everyone on it was here to serve and not be served.  God has given us a "flock." That flock is your ministry, your family, your job, or whatever else God may have entrusted you with. This year I want to be eager to serve, an example for those around me. I know there will still be days when that dreaded "do I have to?" starts to creep back in, but let's pray each day for God to give us a servant heart. Let us not go through life just because we have to or pursuing worldly gain, but because God has entrusted us with every blessing he has given us. Humbly serve where God has put you! And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of glory that will never fade away.

Lay down your burdens

As I walk through the halls at work I asked God to open my eyes, to see things the ways he sees things. I realize I am shuffling in a pit of brokenness and hurt. I wonder if I've been oblivious or just unmoved by the fact that Satan is trying to destroy the lives of people all around me. I start to see suffering of marriages, depression, addiction, cancer, loneliness, worry, complacency and the list goes on and on. All of us are burdened with Trouble! So what now? Do we continue to sink into the sand until we suffocate? Is there an answer? I believe there is. John 16:33 says

 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world there will be troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

The God who spoke into the darkness and created the light, The God who created the heavens far beyond what we can see, The God who raised his own son from the dead, promises us peace. It's time to stop carrying our own burdens and start experiencing the peace God promises us we can find in HIM! So whatever you are facing today, come to the foot of the cross and lay down your burdens. There is no sorrow, no trouble to big for God.