My Daily Pause

Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love are popularly known as the Christian graces. (2 Peter 1:5-7) But that makes it sound like they come free with our faith.

Looking closer, Peter said to be diligent to supplement our faith with these things! (v. 5)

That means in order to bear the fruit of the Spirit, we have to keep training ourselves to practice these qualities (v. 8)

Maybe we should be calling them the Christian objectives!

Biblia ectypa : Bildnussen auss Heiliger Schrifft Alt und Neuen Testaments – 1695 – Johann Christoph Weigel

My light isn’t so bright sometimes.

I know you know what I mean … It is hard to add a new activity to our routine, or take on a new responsibility. No matter how much the church needs something or could benefit from it, it is easy to let someone else take care of it.

That is a dangerous place to be!

I’ve pointed out before that Jesus chose busy people to be his disciples. In Mark 4:21-25, he is using the shining light parable to tell us just how important he considers our productivity in the kingdom. The passage makes three points:

• The higher we hold up a light, the brighter it shines.
• The bigger the measure we offer, the more abundant our return
• The more we have, the easier we will acquire

That last point, taken from Mark 4:25 is often hard to understand in the context of Jesus’ parables. Jesus also made the same statement about the man with one talent: (Matthew 25:19-29)

For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. – Matthew 25:29

This is what Jesus was trying to teach us with that lesson: Those who are not diligently doing the work of the master will find themselves unable to please him at any level! So much so that even what little skill and knowledge they have acquired will also be useless. We can see how that applies very easily to …

• Knowledge – The more we keep up with Bible study, the more the scriptures make sense
• Skills – The more we participate in the needs of the church, the easier it is to do so
• Effort – Momentum applies to the busy and the lazy, just like a stone on a hill
• Responsibility – Those who accept responsibility are trusted with even more responsibility

One of the threads that run throughout the New Testament is that Christians are to be giving and productive workers – even at the expense of everything else. Jesus told us time and time again that God is going to frown upon those who didn’t participate to the level he requires. He wants us out there doing the things that will make the kingdom grow –

It is hard work …

It is usually thankless …

But the retirement is excellent!

The Calling of Saint Peter and Saint Andrew – between 1886 and 1894 – James Tissot (1836–1902)

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus chose busy people when he selected his disciples?

A deacon that I used to go to church with often said, “If you need something done around here, ask a busy person.”

Peter, Andrew, James, and John were busy working the day Jesus called them. (Matthew 4:18-22) There is a lot of information to be gleaned about the disciples from that event:

• They were hard workers
• They knew people
• They understood how to deal with challenges

By reading Matthew alone, it looks a little like they just dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus. But, If we look at all four Gospels we know they were familiar with him and knew his teachings. By this we know he doesn’t want us to be novices.

If we take a little time to look at the book of Hebrews, we see the writer addressing lazy Christians. (Hebrews 5:11-6:20) They weren’t spiritually growing and maturing so they were not growing the church – many were even backsliding! Our Christian growth never stops, much less the day we get baptized.

Being a Christian is a full time job. By looking at the kind of people that Jesus chose to work with him, we know he expects a few things from us:

• We are to be diligent (2 Timothy 2:15)
• We are to influence others (Matthew 5:13-16)
• We are to be problem solvers (Romans 5:3-5)

So here is a challenge: Do a self-assessment and come up with some ways to improve these areas in yourself.

¹¹ Those who work their land will have plenty of food,
but the one who chases empty dreams is not wise. – Proverbs 12:11 NCV

This verse is a reminder to be proactive. Ideas and goals mean nothing without a plan to take action and the willingness to do the work.