It's Monday!

“Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.”

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 NIV http://bible.com/111/deu.28.47-48.niv

It's Monday. It's Monday after a long holiday weekend AND it's cyber Monday. I am going to guess it might be difficult for some people to focus on their work today. I am also venturing a guess that some people will be grumpy as well. 

Not Me!

I love my weekends, my family time, and the relaxation, but I love serving my students and my community. It is not a drudge to go to school on Monday, ever! These verses made me think about my roll as a joyful servant. These verses don't let us just stop at service, the Lord wants us to serve joyfully and gladly, in all things, at all times. We need to serve out of our blessings so we might be able to bless others. Serving under duress is not really service. Our joyful service, or lack of it, has consequences. If we choose not to serve with a joyful heart, our lives will be affected. Our prosperity, our basic needs, and our physical well being will suffer. We WILL serve but we will serve in slavery instead of freedom. 

I love it that it is not good enough to just serve. We must serve with a "right" heart for it to be acceptable to our father in heaven. I praise the Lord for the opportunity to serve him In so many wonderful ways. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Consequences.

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. (Genesis 17:9 NLT)

As parents, one of the lessons we want to teach our kids is, "Take responsibility for your actions." If you make a mistake, admit it. If you do not obey God, you will suffer the consequences. If you reject the God of the universe, your ultimate consequence is death. Many of the ills of this world are consequences of our sin and separation from God. We want to blame those things on God. Many people even use this as an excuse to reject God. But God gives us freedom to make choices. He also gives us the consequences. 

I can not ignore the fact that I have caused many of my own problems in this life. Poor choices, not going to the father for his wisdom and counting on my own understanding, lead to tragic consequences. I am responsible for those choices and I can not avoid the results.

Dear Lord, I know that I can not live this life to its fullest without you. I can not avoid the consequences for my poor choices and ignoring your plan. Pleas Lord forgive me for my sins, forgive me for  separating myself from you. Help me to learn from my mistakes and to continue to look to you for guidance and wisdom. You are making and I am so thankful that you do not hold a grudge. You love me even through my sin. I praise you for that love, mercy and grace. Amen!