So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)

This is on my mind lately. I write stuff like this to myself as much as anything because I need to teach myself primarily, but want to share anything I have with whomever can benefit.

Just to say, maybe this obvious to others, but personally, I found a need to remind myself of this.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He directs your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Sometimes we hit a fork in the road. We need to make moral decisions. Some of these are questionable, such as Paul’s discussion in 1 Corinthians where brothers in Christ contemplate whether or not to eat foods sacrificed to idols. Check it out (1 Corinthians 8, 1 Corinthians 10:27-31), but the short of it is, whether you take one path or the other on a moral matter, your choice is dedicated to the Lord and that’s what counts; either way, your choices, moment-to-moment, are made with the intent of serving the Lord.

We can’t do it on our own. We need the power of Christ and His indwelling Spirit. God gains nothing from us in the sense that He needs something from us. We need Him to direct our paths, trusting Him to do so, anxiety-free. I have to remind myself: don’t entertain guilt. What I’m talking about are some moments when you can see “pros” and “cons” one way or the other. That is to say, you’re not sure which decision is pleasing to the Lord. That’s not saying that any choice you make is okay (such as a blatant disobedience of the Bible). It means, we make a decision–as there is no avoiding making a decision–and dedicate it to God at all times. If we are flawed in so doing, we put our trust in His love to correct us, no anxiety involved. What matters in the meantime is that we dedicate our decisions to the Lord, acknowledging that He is our entire purpose.

I think about how much love there is in God allowing us to serve Him. We are unprofitable servants to Him; He has to hold us by the hand on everything that we do. After we acted like trash to Him, He suffered to restore us to Himself.

If I have a “favorite verse” in the Bible, it’s Romans 5:6-8:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I include these three verses together because of all that it implies in the full picture shown here. Firstly, there is such a thing as a righteous person versus a wicked person in this context (Luke 15:7 is another passage stating the difference between a sinner needing to repent and a righteous person). We were sinners and too weak to find righteousness apart from God’s Holy Spirit; not only are we guilty of the sins of our past, but we are powerless to become greater than we were apart from the power of the Holy Spirit afforded to us by Christ’s sacrifice. (Again this is noted in Luke 15, in which the Shepherd has to go and find the lost sheep).

We have to be completely dependent on Him and accept His love and total provision; that’s what He has commanded us to do.

Why does God do this for us? Because He’s a creator. It’s what He does. 😉 God is love (1 John 4:8), and love creates.

How wonderful it is to know that we’re part of something so amazing, vessels designated for honor in God’s Kingdom (Romans 9:21, 2 Timothy 2:20-21, Psalm 139:16), each having a significant story which God wrote for us.