It’s that time of year again! Time to clean up the dreaded leaf piles. Honestly, I love this time of year and I love raking and blowing leaves. It always reminds me of home when I was a kid. The feel of the air. The smell. It’s my favorite time of the year.
It’s really awesome that I can now pass that on to my kids. I love to get them out to rake leaves together. It really builds character, especially on a windy day! As hard as they work, their effort still isn’t quite up to par. Little do they know that while they are at school, Dad is at home getting the rest of the leaves up with the backpack blower :)
God reminded me of something the other day while I watched my kids work their little hearts out. It’s a perfect example of his relationship with us, His children. God doesn’t want us to ask Him to work out all our problems, and then we just sit back and wait in our laziness. It doesn’t work that way. He expects us to depend and rely on Him, but He also expects us to work at it ourselves, to do our best, and try to meet Him half way. He certainly walks beside us, and guides us, and helps us...but He’s not a genie waiting around to fulfill our wishes. It’s our job to do the best that we can, even though our best may never be quite up to par.
I’m not talking about some “God helps those who help themselves” nonsense. That idea is rooted in the drive to get what we want by doing what He wants (we think). Instead, I’m talking about the concept we hear often at C3AK that “Grace is not opposed to your effort” meaning, though God has rescued us with His grace, we shouldn’t expect to sit around and wait for him to do everything. Rather, we should be inspired to work hard BECAUSE He has already done so much for us.
Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
AND
“We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
We need to do our best for Him! And He will take our efforts and work it all together for our good. Amazing!
Be Blessed,
Pastor Tyler