1-5-03 Communion Dedication / Baldwin Christian Church

Colossians 3:23~24 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

When the great flood was over, God blessed Noah and his sons, He told them to replenish the earth, and He told them that every beast of the land, fowl of the air, and fish in the sea were there for them to eat, along with the greenery. But God did make one exception to this. He said life is in the blood. Do not eat it.

The motivating force behind the blood is the heart, and like our breathing, the pumping of our heart is involuntary until the day we die. If I say, "You have a good heart," it's not because I think your rosy cheeks are beautiful, and it's not because I think you could scale Pikes Peak on a pogo stick. It's because of what I see in you spiritually. I see the good fruit in your life, in your heart, and I just feel like I have to say something about it.

When Paul tells us to do everything we do with our whole heart, as unto the Lord, it might sound a little extreme. When I'm doing work that seems like sheer drudgery, and I'm doing it for someone who isn't even being nice to me, I do tend to second-guess these verses. But that's my flesh talking. My flesh uses five senses and relates only to the world around me, but my soul relates to other people, and my spirit relates to God.

The Greek word "psuche" is translated as "heartily" in verse 23, but it's most often translated as "soul." So, how can I take the trash out to the curb with all my heart and soul, as to the Lord? That's a question we all have to answer for ourselves, but here's how I do it. Whenever I'm tempted to feel grumpy, to not keep the heart of a servant, I remember Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, I think of the burden of the cross, and I remember the grace that He has given me. The Strong's Greek Lexicon defines grace as the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues. With the grace He gives us, we can relate to even the most unsavory task in the spirit, just as Jesus did.