Duty or Love

God has had my attention lately. I mean like...holding my face in his hands so that I have to look into his eyes and get the message he's trying to get through to me. Ever done that to one of your kids? And then said, "Look at me!" That's the kind of attention I've had to give him.

What's the message, you ask? "Quit doing things out of duty. Do it out of love." What good is duty? It gets the job done...but does it count for anything? I Corinthians 3:11-13 says, "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work." As I look back on my life, I wonder how much of my work will be burned up. I cringe to think of how many things I've done in the flesh or just done out of duty.

And then there's the love issue. I Corinthians 13 says that if we don't have love, we're like a clanging cymbal or a noisy gong. That word picture makes me think of one year when we were in China. Every night, we would try to sleep...but there was a man in mourning who would walk the streets outside our windows beating on a gong--all night long! We were told he was driving the evil spirits away. But it was so annoying! We got no rest on that trip. That's what I'm like when I do anything without love. Man! It's hard!! Do you realize how many things we're asked to do that we really don't want to do? I can do it...out of duty. But I want to learn how to do it out of love. Besides...this stuff is just too dang hard to just have it all burned up some day!! And...if it's someone doing something for me, would I rather them do it out of duty or love?? Yep, God definitely has my attention.