Dear Friends

Colossians 3 verses 23, 24
 
23Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, 24since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. 
 
The overriding impulse I have at this stage of lockdown is to wrap myself in a warm blanket, open a packet of biscuits, turn the TV on and forget about the world!  According to the bible verse, I should do it with all my heart, which presumably means luxury chocolate biscuits and a box set!
Or not!  …  I don’t know about you, but the more I read scripture, the more it keeps being banged home to me the truth of the Christian Faith.  It’s not about forgetting the world and focusing on some airy-fairy spirituality but rather it speaks  about engagement with the nitty gritty of human life.  Litter on a motorway verge in the same breath as the delight in a baby’s smile. Christian Faith does not speak of a God who has stayed antiseptically distant, but one who is prepared to get his hands dirty as he touches lepers, chats to prostitutes and challenges bankers whilst enjoying their fine wine.
But there are sometimes when I’ve just had enough!  Times when I certainly don’t want to  please my masters and I feel cynicism and world weariness begin to creep in.  And that’s dangerous because the temptation is to give up and hide .  The fact that these times usually co-incide with the Ten O’Clock News is, I’m sure, purely co-incidence.  On the presumption that I’m not just speaking for myself, but others can identify with these unholy emotions, then today’s bible verse might prove helpful to more than just me!
The trick is to remember that as Christians we don’t live for ourselves, and we don’t certainly don’t exist for our masters.  We live for God and he lives in us.  What we do, we do for the Lord.  And if that’s the case, and I’ve manged to get it through my thick skull, it’s suddenly much easier to put my heart and soul into it.  But the best is yet to come.  Because if I’m serving the Lord Christ, and I know I am, and I know that he is saving the world, it makes my own wellbeing much more secure and stable becasue I’m on a mission with Jesus.  I’m both part of te solution and part of the creation that’s being saved.
Jesus Christ, a better alternative to a packet of chocolate biscuits!  Can you identify with that?!
A prayer

Holy Wisdom,
we thank and praise you for the surprising challenges that can further the cause of justice and peace.
Open our hearts to accept the challenges you send us
and pique our imagination and commitment to discover new paths of justice and peace for your world.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen

Here’s a Stuart Townend song you may enjoy

Jesus is Lord (with lyrics) – YouTube

Every blessing

Andrew