His Alone
As the story goes, there was heated debate among the family cooks how best to cut up a whole chicken. The most peaceful conclusion was “because that’s how great-grandma did it.” When asked what made the chicken taste so much better when cut in the traditional manner, the matriarch’s answer stunned them all: “Why, taste has nothing to do with it,” she said. “When I cut up the chicken like that, all the pieces fit nicely into my skillet!”
Why do you do the things you do? Well, I fold towels like my Mama folded towels, and I buy the same cornmeal Mama bought. Why, it didn’t occur to me for many years [after I married], there were other ways to do certain things. One famous story here is when I served Mr. Bill homemade oyster stew. It was a cold-weather regular at home so I never imagined that everyone didn’t love oyster stew. Well, Mr. Bill wasn’t “everyone,” and he thought I had served him potato soup thus asked if I had used rotten potatoes! Seriously, why do we do what we do for Christ? Do you know how easily the passion for service can replace the passion for Christ! “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me …” (Romans 15:18). Paul writes of one message and one motive, pure and undeterred – that Christ be proclaimed and His purpose accomplished in-through-by Believers. On more than one occasion, God has peeled away the layers [of my service to Him] to renew His purpose in me, that I boast of nothing except “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14). All is about Him, for Him, and for His glory alone. Nothing else!
The kind words from my MWB friends have often encouraged me. I am constantly amazed how God uses small things and unsuspecting people for His purpose. Truly, many times the writer’s attitude stinks, a spiritual desert looms, and words don’t come. Yet, I know this promise remains, “He who calls you is faithful.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). May you, too, be encouraged with these words as we love Jesus Christ, and are emboldened in our passion for Him to obedience. There is purpose in what we do, and that purpose is His alone!
Why do you do the things you do? Well, I fold towels like my Mama folded towels, and I buy the same cornmeal Mama bought. Why, it didn’t occur to me for many years [after I married], there were other ways to do certain things. One famous story here is when I served Mr. Bill homemade oyster stew. It was a cold-weather regular at home so I never imagined that everyone didn’t love oyster stew. Well, Mr. Bill wasn’t “everyone,” and he thought I had served him potato soup thus asked if I had used rotten potatoes! Seriously, why do we do what we do for Christ? Do you know how easily the passion for service can replace the passion for Christ! “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me …” (Romans 15:18). Paul writes of one message and one motive, pure and undeterred – that Christ be proclaimed and His purpose accomplished in-through-by Believers. On more than one occasion, God has peeled away the layers [of my service to Him] to renew His purpose in me, that I boast of nothing except “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14). All is about Him, for Him, and for His glory alone. Nothing else!
The kind words from my MWB friends have often encouraged me. I am constantly amazed how God uses small things and unsuspecting people for His purpose. Truly, many times the writer’s attitude stinks, a spiritual desert looms, and words don’t come. Yet, I know this promise remains, “He who calls you is faithful.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). May you, too, be encouraged with these words as we love Jesus Christ, and are emboldened in our passion for Him to obedience. There is purpose in what we do, and that purpose is His alone!
posted by Beverly F Chandler at
12:00 AM
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