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They must wear linen turbans and linen undergarments. They must not wear anything that would cause them to perspire. – Ezekiel 44:18

 

Serving the Lord is to be “no sweat”! God would not allow His servants who came before Him and ministered to Him to be in a sweating, fretful state of mind or body. We often think that serving God should tax our bodies, strain our relationships, bankrupt our finances, and cost us our sleep. Instead, Jesus said, “My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:30).

Peter said that we are to be joyful, even though we may have to go through many trials (1 Peter 1:6). Can you imagine rejoicing when you feel like weeping? Peter continued by telling us that we can be “happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy” (v. 8), even in the midst of a trial.

The psalmist expounds the third note in the heavenly chord of today’s reading: “If you will help me, I will run to follow your commands” (Psalm 119:32). Run? “Only children run,” you may say. Not so! Rejoice in God and run to Him with your worries and cares. The Christian life, though it can be difficult, should be “no sweat”!

2020-12-31T10:53:32-07:00

There I could see the stream flowing out through the south side of the east gateway. . . . At that point thewater was up to my ankles. . . . This time the water wasup to my knees. . . . It was up to my waist. . . . The riverwas too deep to cross without swimming. – Ezekiel 47:2-5

Ezekiel saw a vision of a river flowing eastward from the threshold of the temple. The river measured varying depths, and we can use this analogy to examine the level of our relationship with God.

First, we may be splashing around in the shallow, “ankle-deep” water with God. Our goal may be just to follow the crowd and have a good time as long as it lasts!

Hopefully, we decide to venture farther into the river and move into the “knee-deep” water. This gets us involved in the local church through regular attendance, prayer, and fellowship.

Third, we may dare to wade deeper into the river. The “waistdeep” water involves areas such as commitment, Bible study, personal prayer, and discipline of character.

The last area is water that is deep enough to swim in. We now come to the area of leadership and fulfilling life’s calling. This is the area of faith—the area where we are in water “over our heads” and totally dependent upon God.

Some may be satisfied to simply splash around in the river of God, but you will never be truly satisfied until you fulfill your purpose. Dive in! The water is fine!

2020-11-24T00:00:00-07:00
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