There was an old saying I remember from growing up – The busier I go, the behinder I get!
So many times we times we get wrapped up in doing that we lose traction and fall behind in what’s important. Does that happen to any of you?
Work, work, work. No time for rest – there’s always another project, always another errand, always another “to do” that needs to be crossed off the list. Sound familiar? We all fall into that trap – overdoing. It’s time to unplug, even for a few hours. Give yourself permission to rest or relax – it’s not God’s plan to have every minute filled with activity. I’m not advocating laziness either, there is a balance!
This same frantic compulsion to work can also carry over into our spiritual lives. We think that we have to being “doing” things for God so that He will be pleased with us. And that mindset is more destructive to us than the physical labor that we put in.
“Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us. 7 Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person. 8 But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.” Romans 5:6-8 ERV
Before we could do or even had a desire to do anything for God, Christ died for us. His unconditional love made provision for us when we were unable to do anything to save ourselves. And His love is still unconditional toward us once we accept Him as our Saviour.
If you are living a life of “doing” things for God to earn His favor, you don’t understand grace. There is nothing you can do to get God to love you more and there is nothing you can do that would cause God to love you less. His love comes to us by GRACE! So does that mean you just go out and do whatever you want because you know that God will always love you – to coin a phrase from the Apostle Paul, God forbid!
Our lives should reflect the gratitude and love we feel for the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf but it shouldn’t be done trying to earn it. There is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love.
“But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) 6 Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. 7 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:4-10 ERV
So take a break today…stop working to be good enough for God. Our efforts will never accomplish that but instead take time to rest and enjoy God’s grace and let love flow from your heart to His!