Stirring the servants – First Devotion as Chaplain for CMA Crossties
Stirring the servants
January 2003
What stirs you up? What gets you going emotionally? Intellectually? Physically?
Does a warm spring day with the flowers in bloom stir you? The smells, the sounds, the sun.
Is it the back beat of some music or the sound of violins at the symphony? How about some great guitar playing that song that gets you to drive a little faster than you should?
Does it bother you when you see a homeless person along the street as you are driving by? Does that stir something in you?
Does it stir something in you when you see a bunch of bikes ride by the other way as you are stuck in traffic on your way to work? Does that get to you somehow?
Does it stir you when you see a biker at a rally or at a rest stop that looks lost or sad or to see them trying to find life by using drugs or alcohol to numb the loneliness that they feel? To see them join with others that are feeling the same loneliness to try and not feel lonely? Does that stir you?
Does it stir you when you hear God’s voice? His leading in what it is you are asking Him to guide you in. Do you follow that leading? You have heard God’s call to be here, haven’t you? Or are you just here?
We are called to witness to those we are placed in front of. To witness about God, about Christ and what they have and are doing for us and in our lives. Simply, to be a witness is to tell what we have seen, heard, felt or understood to have happened. Not to argue like a lawyer or decide like a judge but to simply be a witness. Is this your mission? Does it stir you to share Christ with those that don’t know Him?
Another question – do you believe in hell? Do you? Don’t give me the answer I’m looking for – do you really believe in hell? I know you know about it in your head, and you learned about it from Sunday school, since you were at the children’s meetings – I know all these things, because I know them as well – but do you really believe? An atheist once said to a Christian – an atheist! – ‘If I believed what you believed about hell, I would crawl on my hands and knees, across beds of broken glass and hot ashes, to the four corners of the earth to tell people – to warn people of hell!’. Do you believe in hell, Christian?
Elizabeth Dole, former United States Secretary of Transportation, in an address to students at Smith College: “On whatever path you now choose, I urge you to commit to a mission that stirs your soul. To be truly absorbed releases us from the limitations of ego. It melts the ice of apathy and cynicism. It gives purpose to our freedom and direction to our gifts, turning life into an honorable adventure and a source of joy. And … it brings fulfillment to our lives.”
What freedom we have in Christ. To no longer be bound by the law but to live as Christ lives because He lives in us. If we get out of the way, He does as He wishes with us and reaches to those in our paths to love on them. To draw them to Himself. This life I live is not my own but I have died and it is Christ that lives in me.
To not be lonely anymore!! Christ is always there. He promised to never leave you or forsake you. Does that stir you? He promised to come and get you and take you to the place He has prepared for you. To His Fathers house where there are many rooms. Now that ought to stir you.
Now, I don’t want you to think that you are somehow less if you are not stirred. And I don’t want you to try and stir yourself up. What I believe is that God does the stirring but we have to give him a chance to do it. Be still and know that I am God. That stirs me when I get slowed down and try and listen to Him. That may mean turning off the radio on the commute. Give that time to God in prayer. (keep you eyes open though). To give Him some or all of your lunch hour. Turn off the TV at 10:00. Give him an hour of your time somewhere in the day. Read your bible. Get still so that He can stir you up. Pray for Him to specifically stir you up for this mission that He has called you to. We are not here by chance.
In Nehemiah 2:12 it says “I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.” God puts these things in our heart without our knowledge sometimes and without our ‘help’ other than to listen to Him and see what it is He wants us to do.
He has stirred us with the bikes and He has given us the gift to use it for His glory. I can’t imagine anyway that I could be happier than when I am doing what He has called me to do. He has called me to ride and I am going to do it with joy. He has called me to share with those that I cross paths with. I have Enjoyed the Ride during the last year and I am looking forward to being stirred up by Him this year.
How about you?
Jerry Robertson
Chaplain CMA Crossties