What do you strive for each day? Is it to work as hard as you can, as long as you can? Most of us like to put in a good day’s work, but eventually, we want to take a break and maybe enjoy a good meal, or some time with family. Usually after a long work day, or a good workout, most of us want to relax and take a break in a comfortable place. I often feel the need to try to get some work done later in the evening, but find my productivity is much lower than in the morning, so it often gets put off till later. After I stop moving, and I rest in a comfortable position, my body thinks it is time to fall asleep. Unless I am engaged in something active, that is often what happens. There is usually something that motivates us to get through each day, besides a paycheck. What do you look forward to most?
I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward. Ecclesiastes 5:18
What makes you comfortable? For many, it is a nice, home-cooked meal that brings you back to a favorite memory, like a favorite desert that mom used to make. Comfortable things are often tied to our emotions and things that make us happy. There are certain sights and smells that bring me back to great memories all through my life. These thing help us enjoy and appreciate life a little more at times, but are not places where we should seek to be all the time. There is a myth that many people strive for in thinking that if I get a great job, or win the lottery, or some other financial windfall, then my life will be set. I won’t have to work, or worry about anything anymore, and can buy whatever I want to make me happy. This is basically a lie, as you can read stories about people who win the lottery, or get paid millions and are broke again not long after. If you can’t live within your means before you are rich, you can’t do it with money either. The true good life isn’t found in wealth or things.
How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11
It is good to enjoy life, otherwise, we walk around grumpy with a sourpuss face all day, grumbling as we go. Life is not all sunshine and roses either, as it takes work to get through things on any given day. But our goal in life should not be the path of least resistance either. Have you ever sat in your easy chair at night getting your mind numbed by whatever is on the screen in front of you and thought, ‘there has to be more to life than this’. We fall into a routine and a rut at times and just do what seems most natural and easiest, only to find that we become bored, soft, and complacent in our comfort zone. What will make us get up our of our chairs and do something?
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
I’ve always found that I grow most in life when I am challenged and through success and failure, eventually overcome that challenge before me. Whether that is getting a job done, embarking on a new adventure, or taking a step of faith to go where I haven’t been before, each new challenge presents a new opportunity. Granted, when we go too far or too hard without rest and balance in our lives, exhaustion and frustration can come quickly, but without something to get us our of our comfort zones from time to time, we get lulled into selfish contentment. What will it take to question where we are in life and take on the tasks that will matter most to us, to others, and in God’s kingdom? Who will join you in your adventure? May you rest well after a good day’s work, question what will make you a better person, and then get out of that chair to take on the new challenges of today.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58
Yours in Christ,
Clark
