Monday, March 10th

Sometimes we go through the motions of doing what we know we're supposed to do, but we don't do it with joy.  It becomes ritualistic and monotonous.  There's such a fine line here, girls, so I want you to understand my heart.  There are times in your Christian faith that you will, say, read your Bible because it's what your supposed to do.  You will take time to pray because the Lord commands us to pray.  You will do the right thing just because it's the right thing.  There are times in our faith that we will do what we're supposed to do just because we're supposed to do it.  However, this shouldn't be EVERY DAY.  We all have rough days...weeks.  Sometimes months and years.  I can remember a time in my walk with Christ when we were in Greece that I felt like I was just going through the motions.  Josh was my first child to leave the home, and I struggled.  Instead of it just being an emotional struggle surrendered to the Lord, it turned into a spiritual battle as I shrunk inward instead of reaching upward to deal with my worry and anxiety.  I was still doing all the right things, but I wasn't doing them with joy in my heart.  This kind of mindless, robotic service is not what the Lord intends because He's clear in Psalm 100:2 to, 

 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 

There is no joy in serving God because you have to.  The joy comes in getting to the place that you realize exactly how much the Savior has done for you, that serving the Lord is your PRIVILEGE (not your right), and that there are times that you have to let go of circumstances that you cannot control (like my first son stepping out on his own).  

Happiness is based on outward circumstances---like we'd be really happy if Skylee came today; but, joy has no outward basis---like knowing that the Savior knows the best day for Skylee to arrive, and we can rest in Him.  Serve the Lord with joy, girls.  We've got so much to be joyful about.  No, none of us have a perfect life, but we have awesome lives.  Everyone of us is facing hardship or trial in some measure, but we are facing it with our Savior walking beside us, hand in hand.  There's no reason for our Christian faith to be boring or monotonous!

Scripture Reading for the Day:

Proverbs 10

Revelation 17