Tender. It's what happens when you let something become beaten with a blunt instrument several times until hard matter turns into moldable, flexible, softer matter. Beaten, as in, there cannot be just one large blow, rather it is the building up of many, many blows over time. That's what I feel like must happen with my heart in order for it to remain tender towards the Lord and his purposes for me.
The thought of clay came to me as I was reflecting on the word, "tender." If I am a lump of clay in the potter's hand, then what happens if I don't allow the potter to shape me? What if I decide to stay on the shelf? I become hard, dried out, without form or purpose. I must allow myself to remain in the potter's expert hands, willing to be pushed, squeezed, smoothed out, and thrown around to achieve what he wants of me. A cup, a bowl, a vase--whatever it may be, if I don't allow his hands to shape me, if I continue to remain a hard lump of clay, I will never achieve the best uses the potter may have for me.
The image of wax also came into my mind. Wax is completely hard when it is cooled. Wax needs a heat source in order to melt and be pliable. I forget that Christ is my heat source, always. He is like a pilot light in my heart. He is always there, but until I make the decision to add fuel to the flame, the light will remain the same; my heart will stay the same.
I want my heart to be pliable like wax. I want to be molded and shaped for His purposes, not mine.
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Faithful in Little
"One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much" Luke 16:10
As I have been waking up every morning, feeling guilty that my fellow house members have to wake up extremely early and venture out to their jobs in this cold, I start to feel that I am not being nearly as productive as they are since I still do not have a job.
But as I started to wipe off the mess off the counter from last night's dinner and fill the sink with soapy, hot water, I realized something.
The tasks I find myself doing a lot these days that seem "little" or "insignificant" to me are in fact, quite the opposite. When I hear the voice in my head saying, "Yeah, I should really do that. I know I hate it, but it needs to be done. It will take just a couple of minutes" I know that I should obey it because it is in all things that we are called to represent Christ. He told us:
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." John 13:14-15
Many times my mind wanders off thinking about things that I believe God would like to see me doing, like using my musical skills more, serving the poor and hungry, going off to distant countries on missions, and having a decent job so that I can be more financially beneficial to the church. These are great aspirations, but I can't earn God's favor by doing any of these things; they are not what he is looking for. He is looking for minute-by-minute devotion to serving him lovingly and faithfully. This scripture comforts me when I'm feeling like what I'm doing isn't important:
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17
As I have been waking up every morning, feeling guilty that my fellow house members have to wake up extremely early and venture out to their jobs in this cold, I start to feel that I am not being nearly as productive as they are since I still do not have a job.
But as I started to wipe off the mess off the counter from last night's dinner and fill the sink with soapy, hot water, I realized something.
The tasks I find myself doing a lot these days that seem "little" or "insignificant" to me are in fact, quite the opposite. When I hear the voice in my head saying, "Yeah, I should really do that. I know I hate it, but it needs to be done. It will take just a couple of minutes" I know that I should obey it because it is in all things that we are called to represent Christ. He told us:
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." John 13:14-15
Many times my mind wanders off thinking about things that I believe God would like to see me doing, like using my musical skills more, serving the poor and hungry, going off to distant countries on missions, and having a decent job so that I can be more financially beneficial to the church. These are great aspirations, but I can't earn God's favor by doing any of these things; they are not what he is looking for. He is looking for minute-by-minute devotion to serving him lovingly and faithfully. This scripture comforts me when I'm feeling like what I'm doing isn't important:
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17
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