“Yet you have not called
on Me, O Jacob! You have become tired of Me, O Israel! … You have not honored
Me with your gifts on the altar.” (Isaiah 43:22)
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| myworldinclicks.com |
Busy, I find myself so
busy even in the summer months. A time of rest? No, there are still so many
things to do. From the morning when I put my feet out of bed, until I close my
eyes again, I run and run and run. Work and laundry and dinner and phone calls
and shopping and exercise and dirty dishes…
As I read this wonderful
letter to us from Isaiah and I hear my beloved Jesus say to me…
You busy yourself with
fruitless nothings that last a moment then return to stubble yet you forget Me.
You make Me last, an afterthought, the spare time at the end of the day when
you are exhausted, if any time at all.
Give Me the first fruits
and see how much will be returned to you, not just in money but in time and
your gifts.
You get up early to color
your hair but it will turn white again; see even now, it has started. You get
up early to cook dinner and by sundown it will be gone. First you make yourself coffee and clean up
the dishes, and in hours, they will be dirty again and back in the sink for
you. You sit down to write but first play solitaire and check your email. These
are not bad things but less important than your devotion to Me. You say you
want to use My gift, but to do that, you must sit with Me.
There is no other way. Sit
with Me, open the Book and write what I give you. That is the gift, use
it. And trust Me.
This is the dance of
grace. It is all God and yet, we must show up. We must exercise the discipline
to sit down, stop what we are doing and attend to the things of God: study of
His Word, prayer, worship, service, using our gifts. There, as we are obedient
in the things only we can do, He meets us there and gives us His Spirit in
power. It is not that He wants to control us. It is that He wants the best for
us. Ultimately, He wants us.
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