Is it the eighteenth already? My job takes a violently different turn today. My tax customers have finished their last return for 2010 and now need my products to survive, many by the end of the month. It will be bedlam for the rest of the month, but in a very good way; just busy.
In the hurriedness of my day, the crush of customers and processes, I will probably miss remaining attached to my Master. The daily press of my circumstances will become a distraction. It’s like wandering into deep water to wrestle with snakes and, in the commotion, not being able to hear my Wrestling Coach. What I need is a tether so He can get my attention by tugging the rope.
The danger is that I begin to work in my own strength; those are muscles I don’t need to exercise. I need to exercise my faith in my Master. What I have done in the past was to try to involve Him in my day rather than consider myself involved in His. I work for Him, not my manager, nor my customers. It seems an odd way to view it, but both my manager and my customers are really more people He is interested in.
As Chambers points out, Jesus has revealed how I am to be devoted to Him, by loving others. The Apostle John seemed consumed by this phrase of Jesus, and legend has it that he would repeat it whenever anyone asked for another word from Jesus’ life. Even as he was old and carried about on a mat stretcher, he would say, “love one another.” When asked why, he reputedly said, “because that sums up the words of Jesus,” or something to that effect. It was as if that were the greatest commandment. That was legend, but his first letter seems to be consumed by that theme.
So, the love I show to others is a reflection of the level of devotion I have to my Master? Sort of. If the love I have for others drains me, then no. At that point the love I show to others is from my own paltry stocks instead of the limitless supply from my Master. My access to that store is gained through time with Him. What love I show to others is a reflection of whether or not that time ever took place, and to what degree. Time with my Master has an affect on me. How can it not?
That forms the tether I need to wander into the deep snake-infested water, and still be connected with my Master. I just need to make sure I don’t untie it thinking I free myself up by doing so. So, here I go; swim trunks and swim shirt, into the writhing waters. At least I shouldn’t be bored.
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