Beginnings

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

"School already?" Perhaps it’s hard to think of school and football games in crisp night air and family dinners in the autumn, because . . . it all leads to winter, and quite frankly, I had enough of that season to last for several years. Life does go on and we enter another academic year this week or next, depending on your school.

What does that have to do with people who have no children or who have reared their family? We all have a wonderful opportunity to begin again, just like the students. Sometimes we have become discouraged or delayed, or maybe we have finally answered God’s call to live life for Him. Every day is a new chance to begin, and the second part is not only the answer to, "Begin at what?" After the call, it is about how we live.

I heard Elizabeth Elliot (Through Gates of Splendor) speak at a Women’s Spiritual Retreat many years ago. She said, "God doesn’t care what we do. He cares how we do it." You may or may not agree with her on our life’s work and following God’s call into it, but, there is a lot to be said about, "How we do it." We are to work at our job and/or school with all our heart as we would if we were working for the Lord, not for our boss or teacher. In so doing, we will receive an inheritance from the Lord. If our inheritance were absolutely no more than living each hour in the company of God, wouldn’t that finally be enough? Let us pray:

"Oh God, my God, how blessed it is to walk with you, to talk with you, to be with you in all our work and activities. It is not labor when we serve you. It is the dance of life, the music of our soul, the love of our heart. Today I choose to begin again, with a freshness like the morning dew. Forgive me when I have doubted, or been ungrateful, or complained about life until I die to the work you have for me. Life is for the living, not the dying. I choose life and the beauty of being near you, walking and talking with you along my way home. Give me the clarity of vision to see you in every turn, in every fork in the road. Let this be the day of new beginnings for us all. In the name of Jesus, your son, who lives in the spirit within and in the gentle hand that leads me on, I pray. Amen"

Doris
"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine."Copyright 2014 Doris Gaines Rapp

Hiawassee - Child of the Meadow - available to order from your local bookstore or online. Amazon still does not have the eBook up but has the print book. Cokesbury.com will have it soon. Barnes and Noble online is missing the cover but can be ordered. I will be signing it and Smoke from Distant Fires at the Pow Wow in Tipton, Indiana on Saturday, August 30, 2014.