Friday, July 28, 2017

"No Discernable Traces"


"No Discernable Traces"       
    
   
   A thought, just one, changed the moment and the outcome.

   "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies" (Psalm 119:159).

   As I vacuumed our car yesterday, a small piece of almost imperceptible fluff just escaped my reach.  Where it rested, no one would ever have seen it, or even knew it existed.  Well, almost no one.  The Lord would have been aware, as would have I for a few seconds until the fluff receded into forgetfulness.  However, that previously mentioned thought entered the picture.  "Wait a minute, this car does not belong to me, nor am I caring for it simply to please myself.  It rather belongs to the Lord, and I am His steward caretaker of this gift He so graciously provided to us."  

    "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" (Psalm 24:1).

   Left to myself, the fluff would have been left to itself.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit does not leave us to our own devices, or notions.  I thus stretched myself and directed the vacuum wand toward that hidden corner.  I am pleased to say that no discernible traces of the rubbish remain.  I am even more pleased to say that remembering, by God's good grace, that our car is actually His car provided a moment of joy as the Lord enabled me to do the best I could in taking care of His possession.  Consider that if our Lord were here with us physically and commanded that we perform a task.  How devotedly would we commit ourselves to doing the best possible job we could?  "Whatsoever ye do… do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31).  Consider also that He provides the motivation and strength to perform our duties - "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).  Thankfully, our Lord is with us in far greater measure than mere sight, sound, and sense.  He dwells within us by His Spirit, empowering us thereby.  Such realization changes everything in the hearts of His trusting children.  "Nothing is too much to do for You, Lord!" - this is the inevitable attitude of Christians when we remember the One for whom we labor, and by whom we labor.

   I think I'll always remember that bit of fluff.  I hope I do.  Its presence in a hidden corner provided an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to remind me the privilege it is do all things for the glory of the Lord Jesus.  Leaving no discernible traces yielded incredibly discernible graces in my heart.  How wonderful our Heavenly Father must be that He calls us to view ordinary tasks in this most extraordinary perspective of His involved presence in all things.  The Psalmist, as always, described the privilege, the privileged responsibility, most beautifully…

"I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."
(Psalm 84:10)
"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."
(Romans 14:7-8)

Weekly Memory Verse 
    In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
(I Thessalonians 5:18)
   

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