God never honors laziness, selfishness or self-indulgence; His call to Christians is one of action and activity in sacrificial pursuit of service. Yet none of that is why we were created; nor is it how He measures our worth. For God loves us more than our most noble labors.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30

     We serve a God who loves us more than our labors.

     Certainly, God never delights in laziness. He demands we work to feed our families. He expects us to be responsible stewards of the world He created. He expects us to remember that what He gives us as resources are tools to be used in serving Him and not rewards to be hoarded for our own satisfaction.

     Certainly, He expects us not to be satisfied as long as there are weak, hungry, naked, thirsty and broken people around us. He expects us never to be satisfied when there are people around us who have not yet responded to the Spirit's tug on their lives.

     "To him whom much is given," His Word tells us, "of him will much be required."

     And yet, we serve a God who loves us more than our labors.

     The reason we exist is to be in fellowship with God. We must never forget this, because there will be times in our lives when everything else is taken away from us, when the things we love most disappear, or the ways we've always served Him are beyond our ability to do right now. In those hours is when He wants us to remember that He loves us not for what we do for Him, but because we are His children. We are never strong enough or good enough to earn His salvation, and we are never strong enough or good enough to merit keeping it on our own. It is given to us by receiving the free gift of grace made possible by the work of Jesus Christ.

     For those of us who call on the name of Christ for salvation, nothing will ever again separate us from the love of Christ and the fellowship of God.

     So, even though He wants us to work; even though He desires excellence and rewards perseverance and diligence, what He values most is us.

     When all we can do or all we have is taken from us, then all He wants us to do is rest in Him. If this is your condition today, then know this: God is honored by your willingness to rest in Him.

     Even warriors get tired.

 

--Randy Kilgore

Randy@madetomatter.org