True Ambition

In today’s world, lives are characterized by the amount of activity in them. Think about it. The last time someone asked you how you were, how long did it take for your reply to center around what you were doing, rather than the nature of your being. If you’re like most people, probably not long. We measure our lives by what fills up our calendar (or our PDA’s.)

The reasons for this may be profound, and for each of us, there might be some variations. However, the central cause may be because we’ve come to measure our lives based on what we can accomplish. We praise ambition in our children, because we think it bodes well for them in life. We look for the empolyee who completes their task, completely, and on time and is looking for the next assignment. These are good characteristics, and employers and parents rightly cultivate these in their charges. They aren’t, however, the characteristics that God looks act. Instead, He has one criteria for evaluating the Christian’s life – how much are they reflecting Christ? Is the person more like their Savior than they were yesterday? Are they seeking to demonstrate love, joy, and peace to an even greater extent. This is the ambition that He is mindful of and as His children, so should we.

It is a wonderful thing to have dreams and plans for what we want to accomplish. It’s even better to have a high view of why we are accomplishing those things. May our eyes be ever fixed on Christ – that more of Him in our life, may be the one ambition we also seek to fulfill.

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Learning from Laundry

All of us have chores that we don’t mind doing, and some that we wish we never had to do again.  For me, doing the laundry is one of the chores that fall into the latter category. I actually don’t mind getting the laundry started – after all, throwing the clothes into the washer and then into the dryer isn’t that difficult, but once the dryer buzzer goes off, I’ll come up with all kinds of excuses not to finish the job. This really isn’t a good idea, since eventually I always have to do it, but I avoid it like most people avoid the dentist.

My apathy towards folding our clean clothes has some interesting consequences. One of them is that I’m often forced to dry clothes a second time since they’re wrinkled by the time I get to them. The other is that when it comes time to actually prepare the clothes for our dresser drawers, I’m apathetic about folding them in a proper and organized way. Instead, I’m much more likely to want to hurry through the process, so I can get back to something, ANYTHING, that I enjoy more.

However, several times as I’ve been tempted to speed through the folding process, I’ve been forced to slow down. The reason for this is that I’ve been reminded that no longer are the clothes I’m folding only my own. Instead my wonderful husband’s clothes are also being prepared by my hasty hands and I’m conscious of the fact that one of the ways that I show him that I love him is through the time and energy that I spend doing things for him.  If I do less than my best, what is that saying about the quality of my care and concern for my beloved? (A quick disclaimer – my sweet husband would probably never criticize even if I left the clothes in a big heap. However, his graciousness is not an excuse for my carelessness. :-))

As I’ve been prompted to take more time doing the chore I’m not fond of, I’m reminded that I owe the same commitment of care to Christ. After all, how often do I go about doing things for Him in a half-hearted manner? Do I read my Bible just to get it done or because I’m delighting in the opportunity to spend time with Him? If He puts a special call on my heart to love someone who’s not my favorite, do I do so with grudging acceptance of the task, or do I look at it as a chance to display my love for Him and His love for others? Even the mundane things that God calls me to deserve my best, because it is Him that I’m doing it for.

I never thought that the laundry room would be a place that I could learn to love my husband more. I certainly never thought it would teach me about loving Christ. However, I’m grateful that God uses even the simple things to teach the profundity of Him.

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