Monday, November 3, 2014
Driving in our neighborhood this past Saturday, I spotted a boy and a little girl walking down the sidewalk. The girl, possibly the younger sister, was skipping alongside of him and at times would stop just to happily jump up and down. My first thought was “Why do children do that and not adults?” Some may say that they have energy that we don’t or that they simply don’t know any better, but I also thought of this possibility: “Could it be because they don’t have a care in the world?” Some people have the perception that in Heaven we will all be playing harps and riding in a cloud, but I will not be shocked when I get there, if I see people skipping happily along, just like children, as they travel down it’s golden avenue.
I do know for a fact that worrying about things in this life can sadden and discourage us, leaving us in no mood to celebrate. What’s even sadder is that we often worry about things we have no business worrying about. Such was the case with Lazarus’ sister. On a day when Jesus was the invited guest in her home, she partly complained and partly accused Him of not caring that her sister Mary had not helped her with the preparations. He turned to her and, probably in a tender fashion, said:“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things.” (Luke 10:41) Martha was apparently the type of person that get’s things done, the kind that pastors would love having in their church. On this occasion, however, she was worried about something that was not as important as she thought it was, unknowingly demonstrating a “poor me” attitude in the process. I don’t ever recall hearing a preacher or bible teacher suggest that her outburst was prompted by the devil whispering in her ear, but I believe he employs that tactic on all of us from time to time. Can you not see that he had convinced her that others were taking advantage of her, or that she was taken for granted and not appreciated, that even the Lord Himself did not care about her enough to come to her defense?
We too can fall into this satanic trap and begin to dwell on trivial matters such as these. When we do, we begin to subconsciously rebel, and the good things we do for the Lord and for others begin to diminish. Of course, there may always be people in our lives who won’t truly love or appreciate us, but I pray we will not let the devil steer us off course. After all, his tactics are no match for the pure love of God. I pray we will remember that if we continue to love God and others, the being appreciated and being loved in return will take care of itself.
Memory verse for the week: (1 Corinthians 15:58) “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
