Idle Worship

We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 2 Thessalonians 3:12 (NIV)

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37 (NIV)

Imagine if you will, your bank calls you up and tells you every morning at opening you will be given 86,400 pennies. They give you one stipulation: You must spend it all in one day or lose it. You can not save it for a rainy day, it must be spent or lost. This will be done everyday. Spend the money or lose it. How would you spend that money?
A recent survey once asked: What is the one question you would want God to answer if you are standing in front of him?
34% What is my purpose?
19% Is there life after death?
16% Why do bad things happen?
12% Don't know what to ask
7% Is there life elsewhere?
6% How long will I live?
94% of the answers were shown.
The question that I would ask: How may I serve you better?
To paraphrase President Kennedy, “Ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for God.” The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Why are there few workers, because people aren't willing to do the work. We allow various excuses to enter into our minds to prohibit us from doing the work that God has called us to do.
What stops us from serving God?
1. Fear. We are afraid of what other people will think. We're afraid that we'll do it wrong and that we'll be judged harshly by others for it. We apprehensive that it is actually something that we should do. We won't do anything unless we get approval from others. We are afraid that we won't be accepted by others for doing the work that we are doing. We are afraid that we would teach it wrong.
2. Ignorance. We don't know how to do it. We don't understand our own capabilities and what we are capable of doing. We feel that only a Pastor can serve God. Since most Christians aren't Pastors, they don't serve.
3. Shame. We are ashamed of our past sins. We feel that we can not serve God, since we are sinners. We are ashamed of the actions of other “Christians” that we don't want to be known as a Christian, because we don't want to give the appearance of being those “Christians”.

How then do we serve God?
We have to devote time to God. How much time do we spend in the Holy Scriptures on a daily basis? Just like a car, we need to be refueled to be able to go. Just that our refueling is a daily basis. By spending time in God's word, we will be prepared to serve God in the capacity that He wants us to be in.
We need to spend time in prayer with God. I pray five times a day. I'm not boasting, I'm more ashamed of that number. I know that I should spend more time in prayer than I do. I have noticed that when I pray more times than just the eating times, I have a more blessed day. I get more done for God than I do when I only pray at meal times.
Most importantly though, we need to be a better witness for Christ. We need to always be prepared to give an answer for our hope that we have in Christ. By spending more time in God's word and in prayer, we are preparing ourselves to give an answer. We are growing in knowledge of Christ.
We need to act like a Christian. The best way to be a better witness for Christ is not by what we say, but by what we do. As Francis of Assisi said, “At all times preach the Gospel, when necessary, use words.” We are known by our fruit. If our words and our actions don't measure up, we are called hypocrites by those that don't know us. If our words and our actions do measure up, we are called Christian.
We must refrain from “Idle worship”. Christians get comfortable in their own salvation and fail to tell others about God. We are warned against being idle. The Thessalonians were being idle. They felt that since they had received the gift of salvation, then they don't need to do anything else. Yet, we are commanded by Jesus to spread the Gospel. We must not become complacent in our own salvation, but we must lead others to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.
We need to set aside our own fears and let God work through us. We must not be comfortable being back row pew sitters. We must move to the front of the sanctuary and raise our hands and say as Isaiah said, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'” Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)
There are many ways of serving God than being an evangelizer. Some people are gifted in mercy and are able to listen to people. Some people are gifted with the ability to write poems, or songs. Some people are good at exhortation. Whatever your gift, use it for the glory of God. Don't get involved in idle worship.
We are given 86,400 pennies on a daily basis. Only it's not in monetary form, but it is in seconds. God has blessed us with time. How are we going to use the time that we have on a daily basis?
This year, we are given an extra day. Who are we going to serve with this extra day? Are we going to serve our own wants, or are we going to serve God's needs.

Have a blessed day
Daniel

Today (Feb. 29th) is my nieces first birthday. Don't let my brother fool you into telling you she's four. Last time I checked, this is the first 29th of February that we've had since she was born, therefore she is 1.