My To Do List

My man's favorite John 15 and the word ABIDE....

It keeps popping up this week in my quiet time and in our Bible Study group. 

HE must want me to do it.

I am the vine; you are the branches. 

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;

 apart from me you can do nothing. 

John 15:5

Ever tried to work yourself to death for the KINGDOM?

teach Sunday School? teach Discipleship Training,

work with the teenagers? work with the kid's choir?

go on every trip that the church has scheduled?

Yep, me too!

I like to say, "I just couldn't say NO."

But if I get to the root, I realize that I didn't want to say NO.

I loved being busy.

I loved "working for Jesus."

I was busy, getting things done while other people were pew sitting.

(I cringe just typing that!)

Several years have passed since that was my list 

(and yes it really was my list)

and I like to think that with older also came some wiser.

I learned to say NO yet I am still learning the word

ABIDING.

ABIDING - to remain.

When I see the definition written so closely to my TO DO list,

I realize that I was actually doing the opposite of ABIDE.

I was doing anything but "remaining"

I was doing "go" and "leave" and

 "run around like a chicken with my head cut off."

This week God has really been convicting me about my time in the word.

Not my time spent in reading books about God,

but my time reading THE WORD.

For years I have had a firmly established quiet time,

but lately it had gotten to just reading a devotion,

you know the ones that have 1 or 2 verses and then you read

the story that goes with it?

God made me realize that I was reading more from other authors

 than I was reading from THE AUTHOR.

And I think it ties in with my lack of ABIDING.

I wanted to "get my quiet time reading done" and

then get on with my day and my TO DO list.

But, if I look back at the track record of my TO DO list,

during the times of not abiding, I see very little progress,

very little fruit. 

We work ourselves to the bone with absolutely nothing to show for it.

So here is the lesson for me:

If you want something done right,

do it HIS way.

HE never called us to our TO DO list.

HE never called us to sign up for everything that we are asked to do.

HE never called us to works, but to faith that brings about works.

HE said for us to ABIDE.

To me it means surrendering my time to HIM,

surrendering my busy nature to HIM.

HE is teaching me to be still, stay in THE WORD, 

not just pray but to listen and obey,

keep HIM in the front of my thoughts every day.

When I do that, HE makes it easier for me to do

HIS TO DO LIST

which is LOVE HIM and LOVE others.