Get to Work!

Yea, I guess you could say I was the typical kid.  Lazy.  Selfish.  A bit ignorant.  And very frustrating to raise.  

On Saturday mornings, after we ate breakfast, my dad would head outside to work.  He would fix things.  Break things.  Fix what he broke.  Mow.  Rake.  Clean.  Organize.  Trim.  And even sometimes, plant.  Saturday was work day.  

On Saturday mornings, after we ate breakfast, I would watch Looney Toons.  And then I would watch wrestling.  And then I would go outside to see if my dad needed help.

As I approached my dad, with a sincere desire to help, my dad would always look surprised to see me.  He would then allow me to ask him what he needed me to do.  But he would always pause before answering.  He wanted me to discover the truth for myself.

I had walked over, around, and through piles of work to get to him.  There were garbage bags of trash.  There were piles of leaves.  There were dirty cars and water hoses.  There was 6 inch grass and a vacant mower.  There was plenty of work to be done.  Yet, somehow I had the nerve to ignore or avoid it and ask if there was anything I could do for him.

Sometimes I see Sundays like that.  We spend 6 days stepping over, around, and through opportunities to serve people.  Then on the 7th day, we reach God (usually in a church setting) and declare our availability to do whatever God needs us to do.  

From the beginning, God has been clear that we please Him by serving people.  Loving God without loving people is not possible.  

My dad never stopped loving me.  He never got so frustrated that he gave up on me.  He believed that one day I would start taking the initiative to serve without having to be told to do so.  

I think he learned that from God.

We already know what to do.  So let's get to work!