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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman
Not
In The Mood Any red-blooded male
human being, if willing to admit it, will tell you that one of the most
disappointing combination of words spoken to him are, "I'm not in
the mood." Obviously,
there are legitimate issues, like sickness and stress, that move our
moods. I'm not addressing
those issues. I'm addressing
the fact that both men and women use "not in the mood" as an
excuse in all areas of life, not just the one to which I've alluded.
With this in mind, does the Bible say anything about not being in
the mood to serve Jesus? Most of us would not
tell Jesus that we're not in the mood to do as He wishes, although we
might as well tell Him. He
knows our thoughts. Even
though we may not say the words, our actions do speak what we don't
admit. Look at what the
apostle Peter wrote about not being in the mood to serve Jesus.
1 Peter 3:15 reads: "But in your hearts
revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this
with gentleness and respect,"
Here's what the apostle
Paul wrote. 2 Timothy 4:2
reads: "Preach the word;
be prepared in season
and out of season; correct, rebuke and
encourage — with great patience and careful instruction." According to Peter and
Paul, we are to be prepared to serve Jesus in all situations, not just
when we are in the mood to do so. Was
their admonition motivated from an inherent intentional character
quality that defined who they were, or did something else motivate their
admonition? I'm sure these
men had some inherent intentionality but the New Testament shows that
both men had moments of weakness. In
the final analysis, their admonition was not based on any inherent
character qualities. They
spoke the Word of God. We are human.
We do slip into our various moods from time to time, and we
always will. It's the
constant battle between flesh and Spirit.
It's a battle we must not give up fighting.
If the Spirit of the Almighty Creator God lives within us, as
Christians claim, we possess the Holy Spirit empowered ability, despite
our moods, to be in a perpetual state of preparedness to serve Jesus.
The Christian life is more than simply about being a Christian. It's about doing the work of a Christian, and being prepared to do the work at any given moment in time.
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