Be a Liquid, Not a Solid

 

At the beginning of every year, I ask God to give me a word or phrase that He wants me to focus on or remember throughout the upcoming year.  I’ve been doing this for about ten years now, and while I always think I immediately understand the word as soon as I receive it, I’m always amazed at the layers of meaning that are revealed throughout the year as I meditate and pray through it.  

For example, last year’s phrase was “KEEP RUNNING.”  As the year played out, it evolved into several things:  1) A need to just keep moving in the direction that God was laying out for me, celebrating each step of progress, however small -- much like Dory from the movie Finding Nemo.  “When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do?  Just keep swimming!”;  2) The reminder that Christian life is a race (Hebrews 12:1), one not of fits and starts but of endurance and persistence; 3) The need to take better care of myself physically so that I could actually keep running; and 4) the need for passion to run the race, not just stroll or amble along at a leisurely race.  In a year that was filled with change, the phrase “KEEP RUNNING” was a constant reminder of God’s encouraging presence.

This year will likely be no different.  I’ve got two phrases this year:  SERVE and STAY FOCUSED.  A gentle nudge from God that He’s laid out a path for me. My job, as a wise friend once told me, is to simply honor and obey Him.  

So I wandered over to youversion.com to find myself a new reading plan for the year, and lo and behold, there’s one about service!  It’s like God planned it that way, or something ;-)  I’ve only been reading the plan for three days, but it’s already challenging me.

Paul writes in Phillipians 2 that his life is poured out like a liquid offering to God, and our own faithful service is a similar offering as well.  As I read this, I realized too often that I’m more like a solid chunk of an offering -- a really big hunk of service one day, then nothing for a while, then another chunk a few weeks later.  It’s feast or famine for me -- and not how God designed me to function.  A sporadic heart for service means that I frequently overlook the little assignments God has for me, tuning in only for the big jobs.  It robs me of the joy in the little things, and it certainly robs the world around me who would benefit from even the smallest act of service. The fluidity of liquids allows them to cover a lot more ground than solids.  

What would 2014 be like if every day we woke up and simply looked for how we could serve Him on that particular day?  Maybe all we do that day is buy somebody a cup of coffee, or let them go first in the grocery store line.  Maybe it’s a lot bigger, like stocking the community food pantry or deciding to adopt a needy child.  The action that our service takes isn’t as critical as the condition of our heart.  God can do anything He wants without our help, but He chooses to let us be a part of serving His children.  But it requires that we position ourselves to be obedient and ready to move the minute God instructs us.  

It’s all about keeping our focus on Him and how He wants for us to serve Him.  

I’m not sure that I really need any other resolution for 2014:  “STAY FOCUSED” and “SERVE!”