Labor Day

As I contemplated all that I wanted to do on this wonderful extra day off, many thoughts flooded my mind...pack up my room since we are moving in just a couple weeks, grade my student's papers, cook a fancy meal, clean my bathroom, run errands, read, and the list could go on and on. It seems there is never a shortage of things to do, and yet I am often struggling to know where to even begin. The task becomes overwhelming if not approached with that old adage, "do one thing at a time and eventually you will get there". I don't even know if that really is the old adage, but it seems like people are always telling you to try that approach! It really is true though. I am already seeing the end of this day and know that much has gone by the wayside. I did manage to run an errand, reorganize my entire closet, finish laundry, do some correspondence, and cook a little. But at least I was able to accomplish those things, and the rest will simply have to come little by little. Now, on to the good stuff. In the midst of checking my emails, I came across this quote from a blog I frequently read. It really stood out to me after the powerful message that we heard in Sunday worship this weekend. My pastor was so clear in expositing the text from I Corinthians 9 and 10. People were greatly convicted, including myself, of the utter depravity of the human heart. I am enslaved to sins, and without a right understanding of the demands of my Lord, I will not be freed from bondage and will continue in habitual wickedness. We get so caught up in classifying our sins too, thinking that a personal sin is so much less evil than some horrible atrocity that we hear about on the news: FALSE! Humility is not optional for the believer and it is by humility that I will recognize my own deceitful heart for what it is, turn to Christ, and throw off the chains of sin. Meditate on this:

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit"by Thomas Watson
"He that is poor in spirit is lowly in heart. Rich men are commonly proud and scornful, but the poor are submissive. The poor in spirit roll themselves in the dust in the sense of their unworthiness. 'I abhor myself in dust' (Job 42:6). He that is poor in spirit looks at another's excellencies and his own infirmities. He denies not only his sins but his duties.The more grace he has, the more humble he is, because he now sees himself a greater debtor to God. If he can do any duty, he acknowledges it is Christ's strength more than his own. As the ship gets to the haven more by the benefit of the wind than the sail, so when a Christian makes swift progress, it is more by wind of God's Spirit than the sail of his own endeavour. The poor in spirit, when he acts most like a saint, confesses himself to be 'the chief of sinners'. He blushes more at the defect of his graces than others do at the excess of their sins. He dares not say he has prayed or wept. He lives, yet not he, but Christ lives in him. He labours, yet not he, but the grace of God."

I pray that I can learn to see "another's excellencies" and my "own infirmities", considering others better than myself and acknowledging the abundant life-giving grace of God.