Day 6

Responsibility.

Life is tough, drink up. One slogan says. Another billboard showcases the allure of a beautiful young model at a local strip club. In our mailboxes we find the temptation to leave our daily financial burdens behind by using any number of credit cards, vacation clubs and other sweepstakes opportunities.

The world with its passions and indulgences constantly and consistently calls us to leave. To run away from the hard things. The boy was running from what he thought was hard. The day in, day out routine of doing work, of joining in community, of accountability for your actions, of making right moral choices.

Sometimes life can be so weary. Sometimes you just need a break. And why not take a longer break. Life is short. Why not just have some fun?

What did the boy lose what he didn't realize he was losing?

Responsibility.

Life is tough. It’s tough situations and daily, sometimes the mundane routines of life that push us beyond where we want to go emotionally, physically and spiritually. It’s in these opportunities that we meet the risen Savior who ministers His grace in just the way He knows we need it.

I need the routine. I need the get up, get ready for work, fix breakfast for the kids (everyone wants something different), get them dressed, make sure my teeth and theirs are brushed, go to work, pay the bills, run three errands on the way home, mow the lawn, wash the dishes, clean the bathroom, play with the kids, spend time with my spouse, check e-mail one last time, prepare for the next volunteer committee meeting, get in little me-time kind of days.

It’s when I step out of my usual routine that I realize God is at work. The daily grind allows me to see God at work in the ordinary. I see God care for me and those in my life at the small level. The joy we find in day to day living helps us see even more clearly the extraordinary work of God.

You can’t skip ahead. You can’t go for it all hoping to take in one extraordinary after another. For “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul” (Matthew 16:26 NIV)?

May God give you eyes to see the value in your daily life. May you come to know His joyful presence in all things.


Nathan Tillotson