We Don’t Fulfill Our Purpose In The Bowl But In The Pan

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… —Hebrews 10:24-25

“The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil , all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy…. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. … The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world.” OSWALD CHAMBERS

Why do you think we need to be stirred up?  I recently started making crepes for my wife, Martie.  I do it because she loves them and, well, I love her.  Pretty simple really … not making the crepes … I mean the reason I make them.  When I put all of the ingredients into the bowl, they just sit there.  If I poured them immediately into the pan, trust me, Martie would not be happy with the result.   I must stir them .. whip them .. until the texture is right .. then I have to let them sit or set, I always get that wrong, for 15 minutes. Then I can put them into the pan to become what they were intended to be.  Something wonderful.

Chambers uses the term “lazy” to describe the ingredients just sitting in the bowl before they are stirred together.  The writer of Hebrews – most believe it was Paul , some Luke, Martin Luther thought it might be Apollos – the writer says that the Saints must be stirred up to love and good works.  That suggests that it is not our nature.  We need encouragement from the Lord, certainly, by the Spirt absolutely, but also from one another.  (Proverbs 27:17) “As iron sharpens iron, so one “Christian” sharpens another”.  [I changed the word from man to Christian] We need someone behind the spoon, as it were, to get us moving.  To be what God purposed us to be.  Not “merely” saved for our place in eternity, but engaged in God’s purpose on earth through good works produced by faith.  We are to encourage one another.  We are not on this earthly journey alone.  We were born again not to hide in a cave.  Not to isolate ourselves hoping to somehow live a trouble-free life. Jesus said “I came to serve, not to be served” (Matthew 20:28)  “If you want to be great in God’s Kingdom you must be a servant of all.” (Matthew 20:26) So what are you waiting for?  Your 15 minutes are up!  Charley