parable

This week in our Quieting Your Heart series, we’re talking about quieting your home for the holidays. This is week three, part two. Come back tomorrow (Saturday) for the last week of printables.

Opening my Bible today, I turn to John 13:12-17 to quiet my heart:

When he [Jesus] had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

As I read those words I’m taken back a few years… I received a letter some time ago from a woman who came across my blog. My post that day was about joyfully serving your family, and she was offended by this old-school way of thinking.

I can only suppose that her intention was to put me in my place, or teach me a lesson, but the thing is, I already have a teacher Who captures my attention by the way that He loves.

She sent me a link to her website, where she scoffed at my blog, ridiculed my way of living, and went on to tell her own story about how her son asked her to make him a sandwich.

I’ll skip the expletive language and just say that she explained how her kid was self-centred, and there was no way she was going to wait on him hand and foot like the Time-Warp Wife!

Why is this word, “serving” so offensive in our society? Since when did serving each other go out of style? Don’t get me wrong–my kids do chores every day, but I believe that serving your family is a gift that you bring to your home. A home functions well when each person understands the value of serving and is willing to do so joyfully.

Here’s the thing. If we ever hope to teach others how to serve, we need to be a living example of the One Who came to serve and to save.

This is confusing to people. The wisdom of God is foolishness to man. It was then and it is now.

Many were disappointed in Jesus because they weren’t expecting a servant, they were expecting a King. But there he was, washing 24 dirty feet after dinner. Even Judas himself was among them. Undeserving of grace, but that’s how God loves.

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:27-28, KJV

This Christmas I want to serve with a joyful heart. I want to love as Jesus loved, even when it means going the extra mile. I want to give more than I’m given. I’m not talking about gifts under the tree, but rather gifts from the heart like forgiveness and grace.  The best way to quiet my home is to quiet my heart as I serve as Christ served.

In closing, I want to share an old parable with you. I like it, and I think you will too!

 

THE RICH KING AND THE PEASANT GIRL
a parable by Soren Kierkegaard

Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents.

And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in a poor village in his kingdom. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist—no one dared resist him. But would she love him?

She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know for sure? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.

The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend to her. Clothed as a beggar, he approached her cottage with a worn cloak fluttering loose about him. This was not just a disguise—the king took on a totally new identity—he had renounced his throne to declare his love and to win hers.

QUIET YOUR HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Consider your heart as you’re serving this Christmas. Are you joyfully serving others? Is there anything you need to give up (pride, unforgiveness, resentment, anger, jealousy?) to serve as Christ served?

 

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife

 

PICK UP A COPY OF MY 30-DAY PRAYER JOURNAL AT AMAZON:

Quieting Your Heart: 30 Day Prayer journal!

 

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife