TURN DUTY TO DELIGHT
Today we talk about the last point in the Scriptures that speak to us about our duties and obligations.
12. IT’S PART OF LIFE
Do you remember the parable Jesus told of the hard-working servant? After ploughing in the field all day and tending to the sheep he comes in ready to sit down and relax. How nice! No, instead, without a word of thanks his master tells him to prepare his meal and put on his apron and serve him. “Then you can eat later,” he says. You can read the story in Luke 17:7-10.
With the “demanding our rights” and “entitlement” attitudes many people have today, this parable would make them very upset! Many folks would like to eliminate the word “duty” from their calendar. Very few know the meaning of “going the second mile.” Employees clock out the moment time is up. They couldn’t give their employer one minute more of their time!
But Jesus is sharing a very important discipleship truth. If we truly are a disciple of Jesus, He will be our Master. Conversely, if He is our Master, we will truly be an obedient and submissive servant. That’s the relationship of a master and slave. And this is the relationship of a disciple. There are many who confess they are Christians but how many are disciples?
Half the parables Jesus told were about servants, which the people understood, because servants and slaves were part of the culture at that time. Paul and other disciples of Christ confessed that they were slaves of Christ. It’s the Greek word “doulos” and means “one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will altogether consumed in the will of the other.”
How does this affect us in the home? Much of what we need to do in our homes each day are duties and obligations. To keep a home running smoothly and efficiently and to keep a family fed and nourished takes time, planning, and WORK. And often it is the same thing every day. Life is spiced with adventures and parties, but the foundation is duty. It’s how the world keeps going.
Can we accept our duties with joy? Let’s see them as what they really are—productive, powerful, and impacting lives and generations to come. It’s often the mundane, habitual things of life that add up to being powerful.
Can we say with Luke 17:10: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”’
Matthew 24:46: “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find SO DOING. Will the Lord find us “doing our duty” when He comes?
Love from Nancy Campbell
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