Is Your Service Impeding Your Stillness?
I apologize it’s been a few days since I’ve been able to post a devotion. At the end of each month, there are a lot of little tasks I have to see to, and on top of that, Jason and I spent the past three days in meetings for our college alumni days. It was a good week, but it was busy, and I’m worn out. But, I’m back and wanted to share with you something I learned during the week.
One of the preachers in the evening meetings preached a message on the prodigal son and brought out something I had never really thought about. The idea has stuck with me, so I wanted to share it with you. To save time, and for those of you who may not be familiar with the story, let me summarize it.
A man had two sons, and the youngest son decided he was ready to be out on his own. He demanded his inheritance and headed into a far country where he wasted his money on worldly living. With his money and “friends” gone, he found a job keeping pigs. On the job one day, he realized that even his father’s servants had a better life than he did, so he decided to make his way home and beg his father to allow him to be one of his servants. When the father saw his son coming, he ran, hugged him, and called out to his servants for them to bring the best robe, ring, and sandals to place on the long, lost son. After that, the father prepared a banquet to celebrate the return of his youngest.
“But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.”
I have no idea how long it takes to gather up a calf, kill it, cook it, and invited enough people for a party, but I would assume it would take at least a couple of hours, right? After all, these people didn’t have convection ovens or microwaves. It took time to prepare for this celebration. But notice, the elder son didn’t have a clue what was going on. He had been out working in the field, and when he neared the house, he heard the music and dancing and asked one of the servants what was going on. He was completely in the dark. He had no idea his lost brother had come home. He didn’t have any inkling there was a party taking place. How is it that everyone else knew to go to the party except him?
I think it’s safe to say he was so busy working for his father that he forgot to keep in touch with his father. He knew what work had to be done, so he went off and did it, but in doing so, he didn’t stay in communication with his father. He was doing a good thing in that he was serving, but as we’ll see later in the story, he had a bad attitude and poor motives.
Unfortunately, I can relate. I know what’s it’s like to be so busy serving God that I forsake Him. I don’t spend time with Him like I should because I need to be busy working for Him. I know what work needs to be done, so I march off on a mission and leave my Father behind. Yes, I can sometimes go through the day so intent on my work for God that I forget to communicate with Him, and in doing so, I miss out on the celebration. The delight of serving soon becomes a duty. My attitude sours. My motives become skewed, just like Martha who was careful and troubled about many things. She, too, had a heart for service, but that service soon impeded her stillness. While Mary was enjoying the celebration of basking in Jesus’ presence, Martha was grumbling, weary in well doing.
Oh, dear friends, life is a balancing act, and serving Christ is no different. God doesn’t want us to sit on the sidelines and do nothing, but neither does He want us to become so distracted by our service that we lose sight of our Savior.