“Beware of anything that competes with loyalty
to Jesus Christ.
The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him.”
The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him.”
— Oswald Chambers
(1874 – 1917)
Give up your Christian service.
If your service for God is the barrier to your surrender. If
your surrender is to things and tasks and demands, which have become idols.
If you find yourself in the common position of being lost to
all the works of love that seemed so right long in the past, if they’re a
distant memory and that’s all, run away from your service for Him and run back to
Him. That is, Jesus.
If I’ve lost my first love, I cannot reclaim that first love back
without first getting back to the starting blocks, and I cannot do that unless I
empty myself of the power that has clung to me. And power does cling. Power
saps everything of the Spirit. Power is deceptive, toxic, carcinogenic.
People come to rely on our service. And we find ourselves of
value; for our service, for what we can do, for who we know, for our status, for
our relationships and our rapport, for the perks or fringe benefits, for our
gifts and what we can achieve, and what we have achieved.
We become indispensable — or we think we are. And for any of us
who are champions of religious popularity, watch out. That successful ministry
you have. That reputation you’ve fought to attain. We get hung up on being
needed, on being capable, on being useful, on being worthy — but in whose eyes?
None of us is indispensable, and this has to come as a rude shock. It’s rather
cruel when we first realise. Well, it feels that way. Those who think they’re
indispensable are due for a wake-up call and pity those who don’t get it. The
wake-up call is the light of Christ purging us of a darkness that can only
destroy us.
Achievements are a stench against God unless they’re done for God. And if not, they will not last.
There comes a day for each and every one of us; that day of
reckoning when our works beyond those that have been sown solely for the glory
of God will putrefy. They become nothing, because they were nothing. They will
evaporate and all that effort will be a waste.
If you have many responsibilities, you may need to plan how
these will be done as you seek time out. Amazingly, as we entertain dropping
the ball, because we cannot sustain the output that we recognise is not for
God, we receive fresh revelations, because
we’re prepared to walk away from idolatry and back to the living God.
~
At the moment of burnout, I have found it’s imperative to
stop and to remind myself that I am more than what I do.
I am more than someone who must deliver something to someone
else, whether they be a family member, a boss, a colleague, a parishioner, a
client, a friend.
I am more that my flurried and overwhelmed mind. I am more
than a broken heart.
I am more that everything I am currently consciously aware of.
In disarray I recognise how close I am to God, because I’ve walked so far away.
Even though at these times I feel less than, truly I am more because
for a brief moment I face the truth. All I am and everything I have is because
of God. And only after I fully accept that am I worthy to serve Him who
suffered for me.
Above
all, in every circumstance,
I am saved regardless of my service.
I linger on that and I smile.
I am saved regardless of my service.
I linger on that and I smile.
I’m
free. An unrestricted free agent
to love my Lord whether I serve or not.
to love my Lord whether I serve or not.
At
this point, service, I find is irresistible,
because my motivation has been imbued by rest in the Holy Spirit.
because my motivation has been imbued by rest in the Holy Spirit.
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