Focus
Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.
Read
Hebrews 13:12-17 (NRSV)
Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you.
Reflect
Growing up as a preacher’s kid, and as an avid reader of Mad magazine, I became aware early on that doing good was one thing, and being a do-gooder was something else, entirely. The title “do-gooder” was almost always accessorized with a sneer and some spicy additional descriptors. But nobody ever sneered when saying, “You did good.”
The author of Hebrews wants readers to understand that devotion to the law, sacrifices, suffering, sighing, and acting put-upon won’t bring us any closer to eternal communion with our risen Christ.
My grandmother, Gustavia Evans, found herself surrounded by a bunch of do-gooders one day. All of them were competing to top each other with tales of what they had sacrificed, what they had endured, and what they had suffered for their children, grandchildren, and pretty much anyone else who had crossed their paths in rural Henderson County, Tennessee.
Mama Gus didn’t even know how to play that game. If anything, she was a little puzzled and confused with all the other ladies when she said, “Well, you know, I can’t think of a single penny I’ve given or a single thing I’ve done for my children that wasn’t just a pleasure.”
Mama Gus, you did good.
Pray
Loving God, give us wisdom and courage, that we may know true good for others and pursue it. Save us from selfish pride, and grant us genuine joy when, with the assurance of the Holy Spirit, we may rest in confidence that your purposes have been served. Amen.
Go with God!
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