Every workday of my childhood, my mother started her day with a cup of ambition. It was Maxwell House. Then she put on her armor and went off to do battle.
Having grown up with little, my mother was motivated from a very young age to have something of her own, to gather enough resources to run her own life. That meant having a well-paying job, a near impossibility in those days. But she persevered. A part of that was diligence, hard work, good work; but a big part of that, as anyone in management can tell you, is looking the part.
My mother was focused. She had a plan. And she used everything at her disposal to pursue her objective. She even went so far as to rest her head each night on a satin pillow because it preserved her armor for the coming day.
But here's the thing: Though she achieved some successes in her career, she never believed she had "arrived," never came to a point where she felt it was time to "rest on her laurels." She continually pursued an objective of ever-improving accomplishment, and she never stopped moving in the direction of her goal.
In this week's Philippians passage, Paul sets the same example for us in the pursuit of our relationship with the Lord. We must press on. We must not assume we have "arrived." Sure, our "battle armor" differs from my mother’s. But like her, we are to bring every bit of ourselves.
We are expected to actively pursue spiritual maturity, pressing on until the day we are finally told, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
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GRAPHIC:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/559924166167297532/
Dolly Parton sings Working 9 to 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq1JD-bcGTo
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Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We share a meal and the pleasure of talking about how the words of the Bible actually work in our real lives. We'll be on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place at 8:00. One Friday closer to Easter!
**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414