Awaiting Orders

Jesus,

I love you very much. You are so so precious to me. I realize that I am nothing without you. I realize that without you in my life I will fall to sin. And I will not even come close to becoming the man in St. you have made me to be. Please fill me with your grace and will this day. I wish to do your bidding not merely to get into heaven, but that your glory may shine through me. Not for my benefit but for the benefit of yours and others that they may come to know you and desire to spend eternity with you.

In Jesus Christ name I pray,

Amen

Titus 2:1-8, 11-14

Beloved: You must say what is consistent with sound doctrine, namely, that older men should be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, love, and endurance. Similarly, older women should be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to drink, teaching what is good, so that they may train younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, chaste, good homemakers, under the control of their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited. Urge the younger men, similarly, to control themselves, showing yourself as a model of good deeds in every respect, with integrity in your teaching, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be criticized, so that the opponent will be put to shame without anything bad to say about us. For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.

You know depending on who you talk to I may be considered either a young man for an old man. I have to laugh just a little bit. As I read this Scripture from Titus I find it very helpful. It reminds me again of how I should act each day out in the world. Even though I might not be a young man any more I realize that I still need to control myself showing myself as a model of good deeds in every respect. In this world it is so easy to get wrapped up in the rat race trying to consume and achieve as much as possible. Reading these lines I remember that's what is most important is for me to love and to be a good example for my children, my wife and others that I meet. Am I successful at this? Again I smile shake my head and chuckle a little bit, the answer is no. I am a work in progress. But I take solace in this, Jesus is nothing but love, mercy and patient. As long as I am trying to follow his way he will stick with me and teach me and give me the grace I need to be successful in his will.

Luke 17:7-10

Jesus said to the Apostles: "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

I have to admit as a Christian there have been times in life where I have gotten a big head because I have been successful or reached some sort of milestone in my Faith. These lines from Luke are sobering and inspiring for me. Yes I am a better person than I have been in the past. Yes I am even a better Christian than I have been in the past. But I have to remember that I need to be humble each day. I cannot buy my way into heaven. I cannot earn my way into heaven through the good works. The only way that I can gain access into heaven is by excepting the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. Through this discipline and faith good works should be seen as fruit. And that fruit is not something that I should be proud of, rather I should be thankful. My children and my wife have a better man in their lives because of Jesus Christ not because of me. It's hard, sometimes I come home from work and I just want to sit down and relax I want to forget about the day that I have nearly completed. I want to feel satisfied in the accomplishment of the day. But this is not something I can do. Just as Jesus served, so should I. Yes it is important to pause, rest and relax, but not until my work is done. As a married man with six children I have been given a great many blessings and it is my duty to care for each one of those tenderly. this is where I realize the most important thing in my life. the most important thing in my life is God. I worked to make sure that I make time for him daily so that he can teach me to be the man that I need to be. When I make time for God he teaches me how to get everything else right. So ask Christ serves me through giving me my salvation I in turn, look to stand in front of him daily waiting for him to tell me what's my duty is to be that day.

And that's all I got to say about that.