WORKS FOR ME I

NEW EVERY MORNING

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:23

Sometimes I have a tendency to get bored of doing the same thing over and over again.  I feel like I am stuck in a rut.  Day after day I do the work but after awhile it becomes rote and the heart and soul energy dries up.  This can happen in my religious practices as well.  Same ole same ole thinking can eventually numb me and the emptiness sets in. 

This is one of the criticisms gave to his Church; he was referring to his Church in Ephesus, once a very alive and vibrant Church.  They were continuing the work but their love of God and the people they were working for and with had grown cold and non existent. Jesus was clear to them that the love was more important than the work itself.  He commanded them to repent or he would remove their lamp stand altogether. This is a strong admonition to be taken seriously.

I’ve seen the pattern in many churches I have worked in and been a part of.  It’s an innocent sort of deception that goes unnoticed at first.  The weightiness of the work overtakes the who the work is for; the program becomes more important than the people; a spirit of self righteousness replaces the spirit of servant hood; the focus falls on success, reputation, and praise for the good things we are doing rather than the Spirit of God who we are working for.  Then the Spiritual energy dissipates all together and we are left busy, running on empty.  We get stuck in a mindless, heartless routine that eventually drains us and becomes the grounds for grumbling and complaining.

I have seen this pattern over and over again, not only in church work but in my life.  How can I keep things new and fresh everyday so I don’t lose that first love energy that gives what I do life?  God certainly does it.  His love is fresh and new every morning.  That is evidenced in my heart and in the world of nature that surrounds me.  A sun rise is a sun rise but I have never seen one sun rise the same as another.  Every dawn is a clean slate that is filled everyday in a new and fresh way.  Everything is the same and yet everything is new and different.

I am continually surprised and awed by the beauty of each new day.  The same is true of sun sets.  Neither grows boring to me in their rising and setting and the displays that accompany them.  That’s how I want my life to be; routine but never boring.  I can do that by keeping a sense of delightful expectation as I do my work. What will come of this day?  I can do that by consciously connecting with God and His creative Spirit in everything I do.

When I begin the day and begin my work in an atmosphere of worship and praise, it invites a new and fresh energy of love to be imparted into everything I do or say.  I start everything with a new and clean slate ready to be filled in a new and fresh way.  That works for me.