What You Do or What You Don’t Do?

“I have been sorrowfully convinced that in what I thought necessary attention to home duties, my time and strength have been engrossed to a degree that I fear has interfered with my duty to others.  It is of serious consideration, how much good we miss of doing by our want of watchfulness for opportunities, and our engrossment even in our lawful and necessary cares;  and there is another way, too, in the influence we might continually exert over all who come in contact with us, and through them over others, to an extent of which we are probably not aware, if we continually kept in a meek and quiet spirit.  Ah, it may be with some of us that it is more for what we leave undone than for what we do, that we shall be called to an account.”

Elizabeth Taber King

For another quote by Elizabeth Taber King (a Quaker) see:

God’s Victory Over Our Sin

 

A Lenten Message Part 2

This is a continuation of a Lenten message which my husband, our pastor, sent out to the congregation.  For part 1 see: A Lenten Message Part 1.

The Lord Jesus was not only humble, He was constantly concerned with the well being of others.  When he looked upon people lost like sheep without a shepherd, He felt pity for them.  When He saw a group of men with leprosy which kept them exiled from the rest of society, He healed them.  When He saw a widow grieving over her dead son, He brought the boy back to life.  So, we can ask ourselves, how have I served other people? How have I worked to relieve their pain and promote their welfare?  If I have cared about others and served them in some way, did I allow any thought of self regard to mingle with and abase the good I have done?

Certainly, Jesus was God become Man, but He lived and learned as a man.  He learned how to be a carpenter.  He learned how to live comfortably in the world around Him.  He learned the Scriptures thoroughly.  So we should ask ourselves, have I spent enough time in God’s Word over the past year?  What did I learn or relearn about God’s will in my life?  If the devil tempts me to sin, can I respond as did our Lord, quoting Scripture or will I be unable to resist those glittering baubles the enemy holds before me.

We also see that Jesus not only loved other Jews, but all people.  More than once the Lord went out of His way to help Gentiles, people who were not like His own.  As we look at the news today, we see attacks on people of Asian descent, seemingly for no reason.  We see disdain for people of other races or cultures being displayed almost daily.  Yet these too are people for whom Christ died.  So we should search our hearts and minds and see if we too love those who are different from us.  Loving those just like us is easy, it’s not always so with loving those who aren’t.  But we should all remember that we who have been saved were descended not from Palestinian Jews, but from different cultures with different customs.  God’s love is not narrow, but wide.

For more about examining yourself see:

Examine Yourself

Examination of Conscience

 

A Prayer of Surrender

The Covenant Prayer by John Wesley

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit thou art mine, and I am thine.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen

 

In 1775,  a covenant service was introduced by John Wesley and became an important part of spiritual life in the Methodist Societies. This renewal service was a time for the Methodists to gather annually in a time of self-examination, reflection, and dedication, wholly giving up themselves and renewing covenant with God. Repentance through confession and commitment was a key focus of the service, demanding humility.  The prayer above is used during the service which is usually held on the Sunday nearest January 1st.

For another prayer of surrender see:

The Serenity Prayer in Action

What to Change

 

 

Final Questions For Lent

“There are often bound to us, in the closest intimacy of social or family ties, natures hard and ungenial, with whom sympathy is impossible , and whose daily presence necessitates a constant conflict with an adverse influence.  There are, too, enemies open or secret, — whose enmity we may feel yet cannot define.  Our Lord, going before us in this hard way, showed us how we should walk.  It will be appropriate to the solemn self- examination of the period of Lent to ask ourselves, is there any false friend or covert enemy whom we must learn to tolerate, to bear with, to pity and forgive?  Can we in silent offices of love wash their feet as the Master washed the feet of Judas?  And, f we have no real enemies are there any bound to us in the relations of life whose habits and ways are annoying and distasteful to us?  Can we bear with them in love?  Can we avoid harsh judgements, and harsh speech, and the making known to others our annoyance?  The examination will probably teach us to feel the infinite distance between our divine Ideal, and change the censoriousness of others into prayer for ourselves.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe

I’ve come to really appreciate the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  She was a staunch Christian and prolific writer.  For more of Harriet, see these posts:

A Lenten Quote

Harriet Beecher Stowe by Noel Gerson — Book Review

For more on the topic of self-examination:

Examine Yourself

Examination of Conscience

 

 

More Questions For Lent

Lent is a time for self-examination.  Here are some more good questions to ask yourself from Gustave Francois Xavier Delacroix de Ravignan (1795-1858), a French Catholic priest and author.

Whither goest thou?

Where is thy soul?

Is it in peace?

If it is troubled, why?

How art thou fulfilling the duties of thy position?

What are they?

What effort hast thou made to amend thy disposition, and conquer thy sins?

Hast thou been faithful to the light God has given thee?

What means shouldst thou use, especially with regard to thy most besetting sin or temptation?

Hast thou fought against it?

Hast thou thought about it at all?

What hast thou done with the circumstances of the last month?

Have they wrought God’s work in thee?

For more on examining yourself, see these posts:

Examination of Conscience

Who Me?

What’s Your Excuse?

A Morning Offering

In Via de Cristo, we talk about having a morning offering, a way to offer your day to God.  In my devotional reading I cam across this quote which explains a good way to do this.

“With his first waking consciousness, he can set himself to take a serious, manly view of the day before him.  He ought to know pretty well on what lines his difficulty is likely to come, whether in being irritable, or domineering, or sharp in his bargains, or self-absorbed, or whatever it be;  and now, in this quiet hour, he can take a good, full look at his enemy, and make up his mind to beat him.  It is a good time, too, for giving his thoughts a range quite beyond himself, beyond even his own moral struggles, — a good time, there in the stillness, for going into the realm of other lives.  His wife– what needs has she for help, for sympathy, that he can meet?  His children–how can he make the day sweeter to them?  This acquaintance, who is having a hard time; this friend, who dropped a word yesterday that you hardly noticed in your hurry, but that  comes up to you now, revealing in him some finer trait, some deeper hunger than you had guessed before,–now you can think this things over.”

G.S. Merrian

Wouldn’t the world be a better place, and wouldn’t we have a greater chance of pleasing and obeying God, if we spent a little time every morning pondering these kinds of things ( and then, or course, asking for God’s help with them)?