“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
Sometimes doing our duty seems to be a sort of boring burden. The very word, “duty” brings to mind the sort of chores that nobody is anxious to undertake. Sometimes we try to make fulfilling our duty to God harder than it needs to be. We worry and fret and wonder if we’ve made the right decision. Sometimes we want to have a set of one-fits-all, easy to follow rules so we know exactly where we stand. That doesn’t work because God relates to each of us individually. He wants every Christian to do the best he or she can with the specific talents and abilities we’ve been given.
I came across this quote from George MacDonald, a Scottish author and minister, which has helped me. Maybe it will help you, too.
“‘What is my next duty? What is the thing that lies nearest to me?’ ‘That belongs to your every-day history. No one can answer that question but yourself. Your next duty is just to determine what your next duty is. Is there nothing you neglect? Is there nothing you know you ought not to do? You would know your duty, if you thought in earnest about it, and were not ambitious of great things.’ ‘Ah, then,’ responded she, ‘I suppose it is something very commonplace, which will make life more dreary than ever. That cannot help me. ‘ ‘It will, if it be as dreary as reading the newspapers to an old deaf aunt. It will soon lead you to something more. Your duty will begin to comfort you at once, but will at length open the unknown fountain of life in your heart.”
Duty doesn’t have to be drudgery. It doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be big. If we do the duty that is in front of us, God will teach us and lead us on to all that he intends to make of our lives, and that will be downright exciting! Just walk with Him, day by day. It will be enough.
Lutheran Ladies Connection 