"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28

SOMETIMES THE DAYS become war. They blindside us with unrelenting blows from the mundane corners of everyday life. There is too much to do, too many fronts to defend, too many fires to put out. So what deceives us into traveling the days as though we have strength enough to be the savior of our own lives? Do we conclude (quietly, secretly, where even our own thoughts can barely hear) that since God is doing nothing, then we must somehow make a way for ourselves?

Too often, we miss Jesus. Striving the way we do always makes the distance between us and Him ache with inconsolable longing. But it doesn’t have to be so! He is there with us; He remains still. Patient. Waiting. Being God.

Of the pressures and distractions and decisions we must face each day, there is (it seems) no end. But there is only one decision that truly matters. And that is the decision to cling close to Jesus, to hang trembling to his garments, whatever battle-lines form against us at our backs. Choosing not to fight in our own strength. But to believe, and to rest.

Make a list of the things that cause you stress. What can you do to alter these situations by your own will, and where do you need to let go

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45 TNIV

In the garden, Adam and Eve were made in the image of God. God told the original pair to selflessly, lovingly and creatively serve the world. They named the animals, they shaped the garden, they left their mark. They ruled the world through service. But when they did the one thing they were asked to avoid, an infection set in. And that infection moved their selfless serving to selfish controlling.

We were designed to mold and shape tomorrow. But when the infection of selfishness displaces selflessness, you move from the idyllic setting of the garden to the tragic setting of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4). There is hardly a more weighty theological picture of how the shift from selfless to selfish can create dark and murderous implications.

We need to acknowledge that the drive to impact and shape is from God. We need to also be quick to admit our struggle to impact and shape in benevolent and loving ways.

Jesus came as the fullness of the image of God in bodily form. He provides the functional, healthy, working model of selfless service.

Think of the areas in which you have responsibility. What role does service play in your fulfillment of these responsibilities?

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."
Acts 17:24 TNIV

There is this idea prevalent in Christian circles that God resides more inside a church building than he does in a mall or movie theater or truck stop. I have heard people say something, only to hear someone else say to them that they should not have uttered those words in church, implying that it wouldn't matter so much if the words were said in the parking lot. 

I love the verse in Exodus when God says to Moses, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 

The only thing I can think of that made the ground holy was that God was there, speaking to His servant. I believe that God speaks to His people wherever they are, making any ground where a believer steps holy.

So what does this mean, that all ground is somehow holy? I think it means that even though there is terror and tragedy in the world, there is also beauty. There are glimpses of God even in awfulness. Church sanctuaries are not the only places that contain God; belief otherwise results in never seeing him outside those four walls.

How does this influence your perception of holiness? How will this motivate you to live in holiness outside of the Church?