The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
November 15, 2009
In
This Issue:
Are
You Tired of Doing the Right Thing?
by
Steve Klein
Growing
Calloused to Evil
Greg
Gwin
Are You Tired of Doing the Right Thing?
Doing the right thing takes energy, determination and dedication. The effort can take a toll on a person over time. So much so that we may be tempted to slack up or just give up.
It was that way with the Israelites in Malachi's day. The offerings they were making to the Lord were not what they should have been because the Israelites were tired of offering them. In Malachi 1:13 the Lord levels this charge against them: "You also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' 'And you sneer at it,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering!' 'Should I accept this from your hand?' says the LORD."
How much like these Israelites are we? Have we become tired of doing what we know we should do in the work and worship of the church? Do we even attend with the regularity that we should? And when we do attend, do we put our spirits fully into the worship? What about our home lives? Are we tired of striving to be the husband, wife, parent or child that God expects us to be? And what about our personal lives? Are we tired of an ongoing struggle against temptation; a struggle that we to often lose to our own shame and disappointment? The answer to such weariness is not quitting. The answer is finding renewed energy and a reason to keep going.
Here are three ideas from Scripture that might help you to keep going and continue serving the Lord with your best even when you are spiritually tired.
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Remember Whom you are serving. The Lord reminded the Israelites that He deserved better than what they were giving Him. "'I am a great King,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and My name is to be feared among the nations'" (Malachi 1:14).
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Remember the reward for which you are working. The farmer who quits farming in the middle of the growing season because it's hot and he's tired is not going to produce much of a crop. Even so, "let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:9).
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Draw strength from the Lord. God never gets tired. Isaiah asks, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary" (Isaiah 40:28). Furthermore, "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength" (Isaiah 40:29). Ask the Lord to renew your strength. Wait on Him and trust Him to do it! For "those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).
Yes, living a righteous life takes a lot of tiring effort. But then, nobody knows that better than Jesus. He showed us that it can be done! "For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls" (Hebrews 12:3).
-- Steve Klein
It is easy to tell if someone is experienced with hard physical labor. A simple look at their hands will show it. Those who work at such tasks develop thick calluses from the repeated exposure to their work environment. The things that once irritated them and produced sore blisters now no longer hurt them. They have grown accustomed to these abrasives, their bodies have adjusted to them, and there is no more adverse reaction.
Sadly, too many Christians have developed a kind of spiritual callousness to the wicked world we live in. We are constantly bombarded by evil of every kind. We see it in person, we read about it, we view it on television, we hear it on the radio. We have unlimited access to it via the Internet and other media. Our neighbors are involved in it. Officials in high office are engaged in it.
Initially, all of this evil irritates us. We are upset and disgusted by it. But gradually, by long exposure to these things, we become hardened. We've grown accustomed to the evil, and it no longer bothers us. We have adjusted to it all and there is no more adverse reaction. We can view the immorality and not be shocked by it. We can hear of the perverted deeds and not be repulsed. We are "street-wise." We know about illicit sex, drug abuse, and every sort of wickedness. We talk about them with ease. We have become calloused.
The Lord does not want us to be this way. He desires us to live "in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom" (2 Cor. 1:12). He urges us to "be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil" (Rom. 16:19). He commands us to think on things that are "pure, lovely, and of good report" (Phil 4:8). Christian, are you keeping yourself "unspotted from the world?" (James 1:27).
Greg Gwin
Via The Exhorter, Elliotsville church of Christ, October 3, 2008