“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”(Colossians 3:23 NLT)
Monday you opened up gifts that had to be assembled. Following detailed instructions with innumerable steps, you put together the furniture you ordered online, You worked hard to assemble the multiple pieces and you smiled when you did not have one part or screw left when you were finished. Your children or grandchildren gave you a gift that is a product of advancing technology, and in spite of your relentless effort, you have yet to figure out how it works. Yes, what was simplistic to the manufacturers, was not particularly simple from the user’s realistic perspective. You were challenged. And the root cause of your challenge was that you have settled into a comfortable state with the old way of doing things, or that you have just mastered the last complex change of the technology that is now old after being introduced the year before. Nevertheless, while assembling gifts was work, let me tell you something. Now the real work begins.
Let me explain what I mean by changing the tune of this meditation, adding a spiritual tone about the work, the real work. You have heard the words preached, taught, quoted, and presented to you in a written format over the last few days. Surely you concluded that God’s word spoke directly to you, for when God sends a message it is specifically for you, for a specific purpose. Guess what? Yes, you are so right about it being for you! Yes, you heard the word in some forum or the other where pastors and preachers lived up to their charge to preach the word. Now the real work begins! For now, you must take God’s instructions and integrate them into our lives. You must take the specific changes that He brought to your attention, and recognizing His sent word requires special actions, you must work to make a specific difference in your life and the lives of others. The challenge from the inspired word requires that you will not conform to the world, but be transformed by the word of God. The recommendations that the Lord made to you, respecting your reverence for Him, should have us either renouncing bad or reaching for that which is good. In any and every case, when you get something from God’s word, let it be said, “Now the real work begins!” As the angel told the disciples when Jesus ascended to heaven, let me paraphrase, “Why are you still sitting there! You were saved to serve! And surely you have assignments to fulfill! Now the real work begins.” Have a wonderful, working toward “better” Wednesday. Be blessed!
“He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world. These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.” (Acts 1:7-11 The Message Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King