Wednesday, March 18, 2015
There are two words which I absolutely detest hearing regardless of the setting or the person who said them, and that includes church. The two words are “Have To.” Keep in mind that I said I detest hearing this phrase, not the person who said it. When directed at me, I see these two words as an insulting slap in the face and though they won’t set me off on a rage, I do cringe when I hear them and know certain people who seem to specialize and delight in employing them. Although I have an idea, I really don’t know the reason why these two words together have that kind of effect on me. Nevertheless, I bet most of you have certain words in your life you definitely do not like to hear.
To tell God’s genuine servants that they “have to” is like telling Tim Duncan, “Timmy, you need to step up your game and try a little bit harder.” It is like me telling my dogs, “boys and girls, I think you seriously need to consider barking a little bit more.” I recently wrote a blog entitled “The Greatest Motivation” citing the love of Christ in our hearts as being the greatest motivational force in the world. In sports, as well as in life, there are many who don’t need the cheers, speeches, or pats in the back in order for them to hustle to do their best and strive to be the best that they can be.” In the 12th Chapter of John when Christ was informing His Disciples about His impending death and a voice boomed from Heaven in answer to His prayer, Jesus turned to His Disciples and said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.” (verse 30) Those who are motivated by Christ’s love do not need continual pep-talks or someone to push them. I choose to believe that I am in this group and although the world believes that there are “self-motivated” people everywhere, to me there is no such thing. Everyone is motivated by some force or cause in their life. In the case of God’s true servants, it comes from the love of Christ.” They can say, like in a corny line from a movie of the past, "Jesus, you had me on 'I love you."Too often, the so called “self-motivated” people of the world get praised to high heaven and, to me, that should not be.
Pastors, teachers, and worship leaders constantly need to try to motivate many church members, but how about you ? Does anybody have to tell you that you “have to” do your chores on a daily basis, fulfill all your obligations, take care of all your responsibilities, worship and serve God better, make sure you do all your Christian duties, and serve the Lord with all your heart? Even when we slip up here and there and fail to do one thing or another, we should know what needs to be done without anyone other than God’s Spirit telling us that we “have to.” In fact, I feel pretty safe in saying that God will never employ the “you have to” approach on us. He won’t “have to.”
Memory verse for the week: (Hebrews 10:25) “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- -and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
