Use Me, Lord

Hmm, what is out there cannot be called a blizzard and the warnings have eased somewhat. I almost hate to say it, but good Friday morning and have a good day at work and school. Use me Lord today for what you would have me to do. Have you ever thought of saying something like that to a person on the street or at work? Probably not. Say 'use me' to a bunch of folks on the street and someone is quite likely to phone the local authorities to have you locked up. At work, the boss has become so good at using you that to ask for more seems a bit like standing behind the dump truck at the feedlot west of town. How do we then bow our head to pray, 'Use me, Lord'? I think that it's all about my word for the year, Trust.

From the day of our rebirth in Christ to the day we pray that prayer, the Holy Spirit has worked to build enough faith and trust in us to make us useful to the Lord. In the world to be a servant seems like a demotion from wherever we think we are in life. In Christ, to be a servant is our highest calling. Our Lord himself knelt down in a servant's garb to wash the feet of his disciples to demonstrate the service asked of us. We also learn from our growing trust in God that when we submit to Jesus everything commanded by Him will be for our good. This trust must be built up in us by the Holy Spirit.

In this life, we learn through many experiences to be wary of trusting anyone or anything. Trust in many cases is simply the conditions necessary for betrayal, and some will use that to gain advantage over others. With this sort of training in the world, we do not come easily to a state of trusting in God. In fact, not one of us will be able to trust in our Lord without the work of the Holy Spirit. We are too sinful to see the perfection in God without His revelation. We see too poorly to know that Jesus is holding open the door to the narrow way without a new birth in the Spirit. Like lost sheep we have all been led astray in this world. Praise God for the cleansing work of the Spirit in our lives! It's kind of like that turn of the head an elder put on you as a youth; look there! There He is!

Rejoice in the new day!
Bucky