Post-Failure Procedures

Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. (1 Samuel 12:20 NASB)

 I messed up the same way for so long, I seriously wondered if my Master even still knew my name.  I was struggling with the same stupid stuff over and over, and even still, now and again, it comes back to haunt me.  How much sin is too much for my Master before He rejects me?

Well, when I stumbled on this verse in 1 Samuel, my heart seized it in excitement.  Here is something I can go back to, over and over even.  The reason it excited me was because each time I failed (again), I would wonder, "What now?"  As if I'm the prodigal son who thought after messing up, he couldn't go home.  But that is pride, a lever used by my enemy to create a wedge between my Master and me.

Once Samuel had demonstrated that He and their God were on the same page (thunder and rain to prove it), they were terrified of God because they had made this mistake of asking for a king.  This verse is Samuel's response to them, and my Master's to me.  The answer to the question, "What do I do now?" after failing my Master is to serve my Master with all my heart.

Perhaps revisiting "heart" here might be a good idea.  In our culture or society, heart means the center of the emotions.  In that culture/society, it means the center of a person's determination and stamina; perhaps we'd call it "focus", but with staying power.  So, to serve my Master with all my heart means to serve Him with all my determination and stamina.  How far can I run without collapse in a heap of gasping and wheezing?  That's how far and to what extent I serve my Master; until I have nothing left.  Think "Brock Kelly and his 100-yard death crawl" in Facing the Giants.

It's nice to have an answer, also good to have some understanding of what it means in general, but what does it mean specifically?  That may be a personal thing where for each person, the answer is different.  For me, the answer is manifold: Family, Work, Church, and my Community.  These are the venues in which the answer is lived out. 

It's not enough to "love my family" but that love is lived out in service to my Master.  It's not enough to "show up to work" but that presence is to be a conduit for the grace and love of my Master into those I work with, for, and on.  It's not enough that I "attend church", I am to roll up my sleeves and serve my fellows and serve with them.  It's not enough that I am "in the community", I am to engage with my neighbors, my community leaders, and always bring the light of my Master into every conversation.

So, for me, that is what it means to serve my Master with all my heart.  What does it mean for you?  While you're working over that thought, I have to ready myself to serve my Master at my job.  Blessings upon you!