Every day I feel pressured to do what is wrong. It's because my son and I run a business that is frequented by those who live without Jesus. Their perspective and wisdom is different than my reality. Their first priority is what benefits them so if that means they need to break a few laws for their own convenience then that is what they do. Overall they are great people but even great people do wrong things for the wrong reason.
Often, because I decline their "short cuts" to success and prosperity, I am considered unwise and even stupid. They don't mean to be mean, it is simply how they see it from their perspective. For them it is never a question of right and wrong but the difference between what you have to do because you can get caught and what you can get away with because no one will ever know. But those of us who serve our righteous God know that what is done is always known.
Yet, we who serve Jesus do not do the right thing out of fear but as a response of love. Yes, God always knows but we also know him as someone greater than a judge of all things. This is our Father, who dearly loves us and desires to see us mature into Jesus and who wants to pour out his blessings on his children. He tells us simply to walk in his ways and, as a heart response to his great love, it is what we desire to do.
Going back to yesterday's scripture:
God blesses those people
who refuse evil advice
and won’t follow sinners
or join in sneering at God.
2 Instead, the Law of the Lord
makes them happy,
and they think about it
day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)
It is not a chore for me to do what is right. I don't consider it a sacrifice. I have no desire or longing to get ahead by taking short cuts. I do not begrudge the government it's taxes. I live in this country and live by the benefits I receive as a citizen. But I also have a greater citizenship and I enjoy even more the benefits from a greater country. It makes me happy to walk in God's ways. It brings joy to my soul to obey his righteousness. I like doing what is right because I know I bless my Father by doing it.
I want to overemphasize this point because it is important: I cannot rob a person or a government of what belongs to them and then claim that God has blessed me. No, I have blessed myself by taking what does not belong to me.God's blessings do not flow in such a heart and such actions will be judged even if that judgment is not today. The children of God cannot claim to be following God if we are simply following the actions of sinners. If you are able to cheat on tests, keep stolen money, cheat people out of what is not yours, take short cuts, then you really need to examine yourself to see where your roots are connected. It is impossible to live such a life and be rooted in Jesus.
Do what is right and you will see the blessings of the Lord flowing through you. Refuse evil advice. Don't follow sinners. Don't mock God. Allow your heart response to our Father's love be a desire to live by his righteousness. Choose good over evil according to God's definition, not man's. God knows what he has planned for you, do you? If you do then you will never be tempted to set aside the righteousness of our God.
Showing posts with label short cuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short cuts. Show all posts
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
No Short Cuts
My dad has always been a man of excellence. He not only taught me with words but by his actions that any job worth doing is worth doing well. My dad has never taken short cuts or cut corners and done any less of a job to make life easier on himself. He is a man of quality. We don`t see that a lot any more in a society that prizes pleasure over work. Instead of pleasure being a distraction from a hard days work it has become the purpose of a hard day`s work. We work so that we can play. Work is the evil we must face in order to enjoy the pleasure we want to live. But we were created to work.
I have no delusions when it comes to the Kingdom of God; I am a servant of the King, a worker of the harvest. I have not been saved to serve my own pleasure and to be pampered by God. I have been saved and left here as a Kingdom citizen with tasks that I am to complete. I have been warned that there will be tough days and that many will see themselves as my enemy but I am under the authority of the King and his protection. And I have been told to be faithful to these tasks I have been given and to be found doing them on the King`s return. There are no short cuts and my King is looking for quality.
Paul`s instruction to Timothy was in this same spirit as he wrote:
Do your best to win God’s approval as a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed and who teaches only the true message. (2 Timothy 2:15)
How does a workman avoid feeling ashamed? By doing the best at everything he does. Again I feel I must put in this side note. I am not talking about salvation. Everything you need done to belong to God has been done for you. We are not talking salvation here but being a faithful workman in the Kingdom, completing the tasks that have been given to us. A carpenter knows that if he does not do his best it will soon be seen by everyone. He wants to feel good every time he looks on his handy work, not shame because it is falling apart. The same can be said of everyone whose work will be put on display, whether it be musicians, plumbers, actors, parents and Kingdom workmen.
Do you realize that our work will be put on display on the day we are asked to give account for what we did with what we were given? Short cuts will be seen. Shoddy work will be shown. Half-measures will be clear to everyone. And it is not just then. Do you not feel the conviction of the Spirit when you let go of an opportunity? Do you not feel troubled when you only give your minimum to the work of the Kingdom? Do you really have a sense of satisfaction when you say `good enough`?
Maybe you are not laying bricks or patching pot holes or painting houses but the work you do is plainly seen by the King. When you tell that friend that you don`t have time for them because you want to watch the hockey game, it is seen.When you lose patience and walk away from a person who `should know better`, it is seen. When someone asks you about your faith and you are too ashamed to talk to them about Jesus, it is seen. When we put more finances and time into what distracts us then into the mission we have been given, it is seen. When a need is presented and we ignore it, as if we didn`t see it, it is seen. When we choose sin over righteousness, it is seen.
Paul told Timothy to do his best to win God`s approval. Is that how you live your day, wanting to do your best so you win your Father`s approval? Some people have problems with such a thought but it is there, plan as day, in the Bible to read. How you live your life matters. How you approach the Kingdom work matters. You are a workman so be one that works hard and wins the approval of our Father. No short cuts.
I have no delusions when it comes to the Kingdom of God; I am a servant of the King, a worker of the harvest. I have not been saved to serve my own pleasure and to be pampered by God. I have been saved and left here as a Kingdom citizen with tasks that I am to complete. I have been warned that there will be tough days and that many will see themselves as my enemy but I am under the authority of the King and his protection. And I have been told to be faithful to these tasks I have been given and to be found doing them on the King`s return. There are no short cuts and my King is looking for quality.
Paul`s instruction to Timothy was in this same spirit as he wrote:
Do your best to win God’s approval as a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed and who teaches only the true message. (2 Timothy 2:15)
How does a workman avoid feeling ashamed? By doing the best at everything he does. Again I feel I must put in this side note. I am not talking about salvation. Everything you need done to belong to God has been done for you. We are not talking salvation here but being a faithful workman in the Kingdom, completing the tasks that have been given to us. A carpenter knows that if he does not do his best it will soon be seen by everyone. He wants to feel good every time he looks on his handy work, not shame because it is falling apart. The same can be said of everyone whose work will be put on display, whether it be musicians, plumbers, actors, parents and Kingdom workmen.
Do you realize that our work will be put on display on the day we are asked to give account for what we did with what we were given? Short cuts will be seen. Shoddy work will be shown. Half-measures will be clear to everyone. And it is not just then. Do you not feel the conviction of the Spirit when you let go of an opportunity? Do you not feel troubled when you only give your minimum to the work of the Kingdom? Do you really have a sense of satisfaction when you say `good enough`?
Maybe you are not laying bricks or patching pot holes or painting houses but the work you do is plainly seen by the King. When you tell that friend that you don`t have time for them because you want to watch the hockey game, it is seen.When you lose patience and walk away from a person who `should know better`, it is seen. When someone asks you about your faith and you are too ashamed to talk to them about Jesus, it is seen. When we put more finances and time into what distracts us then into the mission we have been given, it is seen. When a need is presented and we ignore it, as if we didn`t see it, it is seen. When we choose sin over righteousness, it is seen.
Paul told Timothy to do his best to win God`s approval. Is that how you live your day, wanting to do your best so you win your Father`s approval? Some people have problems with such a thought but it is there, plan as day, in the Bible to read. How you live your life matters. How you approach the Kingdom work matters. You are a workman so be one that works hard and wins the approval of our Father. No short cuts.
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