I backed my car out of the space and pulled away from the gas station. I had stopped there to grab a few Gatorades on my way home. This was after spending three hours on our riding lawnmower. In the last seven days, I had helped lay 74 bags of mulch, push-mowed half of a dozen lawns, helped repair the riding lawnmower in the rain, and had just completed a three-hour mowing job that morning. I was so parched and tired that my focus was entirely on my thirst at that moment.
As I thought of how thirsty I was, I was reminded of a Bible verse. Psalm 42:1 says, As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. What if I felt the same way about the things of God and my relationship with God as I did about the refreshing Gatorade in the seat next to me? I wanted it, and I needed it!
I then thought of how Matthew 11:28 says, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What if I sought spiritual rest in the Lord in the same way I sought to get home and find my way to bed?
Believe me, this train of thought was convicting enough, but God gave me something else that was even more convicting. The question He wanted me to ask myself was, “If I am not thirsting for God, and if I am not seeking rest in the proper place, then how can I teach someone else to do those things?” Philippians 4:9 says, Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
A twelve-year-old young man from our church helped me and my husband with our landscaping and lawn work during the summer. I discovered that there is much to teach a young person about lawn work, such as the proper height to cut different types of grass, how to use different types of equipment, how to cut open a bag of mulch safely, and much more. We do not have any children of our own, so this type of teaching is fairly uncharted territory for my husband and me. We tried to be very conscientious. We tried to make sure he was staying hydrated and taking breaks. We did a large amount of teaching by demonstration. A person can be told how to do something, but showing him how is generally better.
With this in mind, I read Philippians 4:9 and hoped that lawn work is not the only thing that I teach by example. I am happy to teach a child to stay hydrated in the Florida summer, but I also hope he sees my thirst for the things of God. I want him to see my focus on learning what God has for me at church by taking sermon notes, paying attention in the services, going to the altar, and serving where I can. It is important for me to show a child how to rest and recover so he can continue to work, but I want him to know that Jesus gives us spiritual rest so we can work for Him.
Having learned these things from Christians who have gone before me, I know the importance of passing them on to the next generation. I want to live my life to do just that.
by Amber Slimp
