Daily Jewel

bt Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Calling in Sick is No Option”
“A lazy employee will give you nothing but trouble…” – Proverbs 10:26 (MSG)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.” – Colossians 3:23-25

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” – John 13:12-17

The whole area of service is a very important one in the Christian life. The importance can be seen in the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea in the Holy Land. The two bodies of water are connected by the Jordan River in a direct north-south line along the Great Rift Valley. Clear, sweet water from underground springs flows into the Sea of Galilee. And the Sea of Galilee flows south into the Jordan. Galilee is a gorgeous, active lake, full of life that has sustained fishermen in the region for millennia. The Dead Sea, by contrast, is a shallow, selfish basin with no outlet. It hoards the water that flows into it. Some water evaporates, leaving behind brackish, clouded water so dense that swimmers bob like corks. The whole sea is dead. When we as Christians have no outlet of service, we too can become spiritually dead, and stagnant. Instead of our faith being attractive, life giving and fruitful, we become as off-putting as a stagnant pond.
William Law made a lasting impact upon 18th century England with his book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. In it, Law urges the Christian that every day should be viewed as a day of humility. And how does he suggest that we do this? By learning to serve others. Law understood that it is with the discipline of service that one gains humility. If we want humility, he urges us to, “give in to all the weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow-man, cover their frailties, love their excellences, encourage their virtues, relieve their wants, rejoice in their prosperities, be compassionate in their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their unkindness, forgive their malice, be a servant of servants, and agree to do the lowest offices to the lowest of mankind.”
Why is this important? I have noticed within our culture a disturbing lack of what it means “to serve.” You walk into a restaurant and you are no longer a customer but more of an imposition, a hindrance. A number of businesses are struggling to keep employees (and customers) because they are service-oriented, and too few are truly willing to serve. They want a job but not the responsibility that comes with it.
Christianity is much the same way. As Christians, we want the benefits of a relationship with God, we want the joys that come with having Christ as our savior—however, too many stop at the word…serve! “I don’t have the time.” “I don’t have the ability.” “I’m not comfortable with that type of thing….” And so on and so forth. Most of us can blow through three dollars without even thinking twice. It’ll get you a cup of Starbucks, a few snacks for a road trip, or a squeak toy for your new puppy. But one thing is for sure: it won’t buy your soul-to-soul intimacy with the Creator of the universe. Someone once wrote the following analogy—one that aptly fits what we are talking about today: “I’d like to buy three dollars’ worth of God. Please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a rebirth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I’d like to buy about three dollars’ worth of God, please.”
I wonder if you are among those who want just enough of God to get yourself to a comfortable place, but not enough to pay the price of a deepening relationship with Him. If we want to be in tight with Jesus, we’ve got to abandon the idea that a mere acquaintance with Him is enough and that we have all we really need in and of ourselves. Self-sufficiency is life’s greatest barricade when it comes to intimacy with God. Jesus calls us to service for the Kingdom. We do not have the luxury of being lazy if we truly want to be blessed.
Pastor J. T. Carnell.