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Our Weekly Devotional

Made to Mutter or Made to Matter?

Tuesday, June 17, 2014 • • General
Are we made to mutter, or made to matter? What we do in the routine moments of life defines what we do for God when He calls us to service.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ---2 Peter 1:5-8

     On June 6, 1944, thousands of soldiers hit beaches whose names history now whispers with reverence.  The muck of mud and water made running impossible, meaning they literally walked into battle, wading through withering sheets of gunfire and death in incredible acts of individual and collective bravery.

      While few of them could have known ahead of time how terrible this trial would be, all of them had hints.  Paratroopers were told their chances of survival were low; second and third waves of beach-chargers were told not to worry if they didn't have weapons, there would be plenty laying on the ground from the men before them whose fight was over.

     Almost nothing went according to plan, and yet almost everything went according to plan.  Though timelines and command structures were shattered by mistakes and merciless enemy fire, again and again individual soldiers or groups of soldiers followed second-tier leaders or acted on their own initiative to accomplish nearly impossible feats.

     Minutes mattered. In most instances, seconds mattered, which meant reflex and instinct governed response.  This meant, of course, that the two-plus years of training most had endured before D-Day were incredibly important. 

     Day in and day out, in mind-numbingly repetitive fashion, they engaged in boring drill after boring drill, stripping themselves of bad habits while instilling in them both the knowledge and the muscle-memory they would need in battle. 

     Veterans often describe their wartime service as 90% boredom and 10% life-or-death struggle.  But they also acknowledge the discipline developed in those boring days gave them the instinctive reflexes and much-needed instant wisdom to matter in battle. 

     Peter likely had this same principle in mind when he wrote today's passage to early Christians, many of whom were facing this boredom/life-or-death cycle because of persecution.  But his words don't just speak to the persecuted; they speak to every follower of Jesus who wants his/her life to matter for the Kingdom; every believer who wants his/her life to make a difference to the culture. 

     Especially today, when the pace of life forces us to be governed by reflex and instinct over thought and planning, it is imperative we understand that even the mundane moments matter.  We may mutter over how difficult it is to stay interested in reading Scripture; how hard it is to remember to pray for others, or how boring it can be to study, pray and listen so we understand how God wants us to work and live. 

     But when we step out from our quiet places and into the relentless onslaught of life's continuous demands and unsettling temptations, what we've done in the way of spiritual discipline will determine what we do for Christ. 

     Peter's list of traits must be so deeply ingrained in us that when we don't have time to think, or when life is so desperately difficult we lack even the energy to pray, our instinct and reflex choose the path that honors God.  Without this incessant and intentional training regimen, without the purchase of these traits via sometimes mind-numbingly monotonous periods of spiritual routine, we fall back to the default of Adam and Eve's sinful rebellion and self-focus.

     As Peter wrote to this same group, we must 'live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.' (1 Peter 2:12)   Or as Jesus says in Matthew 5:16:  'Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.'

--Randy Kilgore

 

    

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