Posted by tamorragoldsboro@gmail.com on July 25, 2022

I have been struggling with something lately. I haven’t been able to appreciate my vacation and time off of work. I have been ripping and running trying to get things done before I have to go back. You see, I’m a teacher and I have summers off. What this really means is that I have about 2 and a half months to try to catch up on everything that I didn’t have time to do over the school year. I’m exhausted. All I can hear the Lord say is, take a rest.

He gives his children rest . . .

I thank God for the gift of rest. I thank God for his wisdom and for his direction. I thank God for teaching me about his free gifts of love and forgiveness. He has so many other gifts to offer us and as we build our relationship with him, he reveals more of his free gifts. He has set a different way of thinking into my heart about how to behave in this world. He has opened my heart to be able to receive. He gives us so much, but we have to be able to see it so that we can benefit from it. We can benefit free of charge with no obligations.

I want to share with you about Jesus . . .

God gave us Jesus as a free gift and Jesus has given us so much. Jesus completed the will of the father, not because he was obligated but because he loved him. Jesus did not seek self preservation but saw the importance of preserving the human race. He didn’t owe us anything. There was no obligation. He did it out of love.

The great thing about serving the Lord is that he gives and he gives and he doesn’t really ask for anything in return. I am growing in my relationship with the Lord and I am learning how not to be the “user” in the relationship. I don’t want to be the one in the relationship asking and asking; taking and taking; begging and begging. No, I want to do things for the Lord because I love him. I want to show my appreciation for his love and kindness. I want to be a good friend to him, as he is a good friend to me. So, anything that I write, say, share is not because I am under obligation, but it is because I appreciate our relationship. I appreciate our friendship. I am also learning to love.

I know sometimes we feel like we owe people something. Our society and our culture works on a barter system; you give me this and I'll give you that. This is why, for some people, it is hard to just receive something without expecting to pay someone back later. After receiving a gift out of nowhere from someone, we might have the quiet distant thought “oh, she wants something from me, I wonder what she wants?” However, those of us who live outside of world culture understand the benefits of giving freely. We also learn how to receive freely without feeling an obligation to pay someone back. We are thankful, appreciative, and able to receive free gifts.

We have to learn how to give and receive freely because it is a concept for kingdom living.

I feel that this is a message for those who find it hard to accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus is trying to offer the world. It’s free because he loved us that much. I also think that this is a message for Christians who are trying to do “TOO MUCH.” Slow down sometimes and take the rest that the Lord provides you. We are not obligated to live the most holy, the most spiritual, or the most religious life we can with the hopes of repaying our salvation. You can’t repay a free gift.

I continue to promote and encourage people to seek after the Lord for encouragement, hope, motivation, and food for your soul. He said that if you really do thirst or if we are too heavy with the burdens of this world, then we can turn to him. Let us turn to him so that he can restore our souls.