Those are the words that I woke up to this morning. Odd, huh? But then some of you don’t know me... :) Odd is quite normal in my world. (I loved the signature line my sister used to use at the end of her emails—“normal is only a selection on the clothes dryer”—Love it!)
Okay...back to this morning...
I was dragging my tired self to the bathroom to get dressed when those words kept looping in my head... “Do the will of God from the heart”.
Being a little too formal for myself to be talking to self in that manner, I looked the phrase up in the Bible once I got downstairs. Sure enough, in Ephesians chapter 6 Paul is speaking to the believers in Ephesus about slaves being obedient to their masters “with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” (v. 5, 6)
Jesus is my Lord. He is the Master and I His servant. It is my single, greatest desire to be obedient to Him, daily bringing Him pleasure and glory with my life. So I thought over these words as I read over them again and again.
“with fear and trembling” -- God deserves my reverence and respect. He is mighty and powerful—worthy of my fear and trembling before Him should I choose to walk in disobedience. He is a God of love, but He is also a God of righteous judgment. I love Him deeply, but I also fear Him.
“in the sincerity of your heart” -- Without deceitfulness of heart, or in other words, faithfulness. Is my obedience to my Master in faithfulness? Can God trust me in the tasks that He gives me to do to fulfill them with an honest, good heart motive?
“as to Christ” -- Yes, this scripture in context is really referring to how servants (predominately slaves) were to respond to their earthly masters. But in putting this verse to work in my own relationship with Christ, do I remember that each task I do IS for Christ? From changing a diaper, to correcting misspelled words. From grocery shopping to cooking and cleaning. In responding to emails, responding to hurtful words, responding to whiney little voices, responding to the inconsiderate requests of others...all that I do each day, all that I say, all of my body language, all of me and what “me” does in a day is my spiritual service of worship to God (Rom. 12:1). Do I keep in mind to do all my all’s “as to Christ”?
“not by way of eyeservice” -- For we all know that God’s eyes are everywhere and see everything that we do, don’t do and how we do or don’t do those things. God sees our motives not just our actions.
“but as slaves of Christ” -- A bondslave was a servant who had been freed but, wanting to continue in service for his master, would request to become his bondslave. Because he loved his master and did not want to part from him he would ask to be marked (usually by a piercing of the ear) and chose to continue as his servant. I am a bondslave of Jesus Christ. I freely and with love give myself to Him daily. It’s my choice, but I am reminded that my freedom was bought with a price! (1 Cor. 7:23a)
“doing the will of God from the heart” -- So now we come back to the original playback from my morning. Am I doing what He has asked me to get done? What is it that needs doing? His will. What would that be? In general...fulfilling His commandments and statutes from the scriptures, speaking the words of God in love, being diligent in my obedience, spreading the gospel, etc. Personally...He has called each one of us to do specific things in particular to our lives, in our homes, with our people or in connection with our character. Those things that we KNOW He has been talking to us about...that is His will that needs doing! And we are to do His will from the heart. In other words, from the soul or spirit. This is where He reminded me of those fruits of the Spirit from that letter to Galatia.
Do the will of God in love...
Do the will of God with joy...
Do the will of God in peace...
Do the will of God with patience...
Do the will of God with kindness...
Do the will of God with goodness...
Do the will of God faithfully...
Do the will of God with gentleness...
Do the will of God while in control of self...
This brought me to a few verses in Colossians 3—
“Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external (eye) service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily (from the soul), as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” (vs. 22-24a)
I know that those verses are very similar to the ones in Ephesians, but there is some added nuggets worth mining there, so go back and read it again for me, will you?
“in all things” -- All...not some, most, the convenient “things”, the easy to do, worthwhile, fun, or the ones that don’t cost me. Nope, the word here is “all”. Ouch!
The second half of this verse I know well.
For several years I cleaned the office and home of a Christian woman that I knew. I really struggled with going to their home each week because it amazed me how a family of four could make such a mess. Dried food on the counters, bathrooms beyond description, clutter and mess everywhere. Nothing against them at all, I just like things clean, neat and put in their place (or around here we call it their “homes”). But I did get the impression, (maybe because their boys told me so :), that messes were left because they knew I would be coming in a day or so and that was what I got paid for. Yep...I did. She paid me a very fair wage in exchange for my service. But because of the attitude from the boys, I really struggled with own. I felt I was being taken advantage of. With their words, and attitudes behind them, I was definitely belittled in their eyes for what I was there to do for them. Humbling...let me tell you!
That’s when the teaching of this verse from my grandfather saved me! I remember sitting with him in his old pick-up truck when I was a very little girl. He told me, “Robin, whatever you have to do, always do your job cheerfully, quickly, and do your best. Imagine that you are doing the job for Jesus. Then you will be happy about doing it.” It wasn’t until years later that I realized he was making that verse personal and practical for that little girl and the bigger girl she grew up to be.
One day while cleaning behind a toilet, and grumbling in my spirit, I heard God ask “can you do this for me, Robin?” Immediately, I remembered that conversation with Grandpa. He was asking if I was willing to clean cheerfully, not complainingly; to give my best, not give “enough”; to be grateful, not bothered; to do the task for Him, not for the boys. “Yes God, I can do this for You!” And I did so for the remainder of time that I cleaned for them.
I had no idea all that God had in mind to show me when I first went digging after that phrase this morning. Obviously, this was something I needed to be reminded of in my heart. I am so grateful for His loving hand of guidance and correction... not leaving me as I am. That is why I so love being in the Word. I know how to find out for myself all that He wants me to know about Him and how to live joyfully.
For in all things, “it is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Colossians 3:24b
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