Life on the Pasture

For the past several weeks, I have been walking back and forth to church. It’s not that long a walk, just under a mile, and I enjoy being outside. What I am also hoping is that the walking, along with some food and beverage intake adjustments, will result in a loss of weight and a decrease of my waist size. Unfortunately, not much progress has been made, the biggest issue being the inability on my part to consistently adjust my food and beverage intake. The phrase "No pain, no gain" may be true in many cases, but I would rather avoid the pain of sacrificing the food and drink I enjoy.

Which brings me to the word "sacrifice," and, in particular, Paul's words in Romans 12: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) 

For those of us with a Lutheran background, we have been rightly taught that we will not go to heaven based on our good works, but solely as a result of God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus and what He accomplished for us. But that does not mean that what we do doesn't matter. In fact, Martin Luther included in his Small Catechism a section called "The Table of Duties" which includes several Scripture passages that make clear how followers of Jesus are to live in different callings in life, such as pastor, parishioner, government official, citizen, family member, worker, and boss. The last category is "To Everyone," and the final Bible passage is 1 Timothy 2:1, "I urge... that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone." 

There are times when I am overcome with guilt for a failure on my part to pray for others as I should. It has nothing to do with a lack of respect and love for prayer. It does have to do with getting caught up in other things and not setting aside the quiet, undisturbed time to not only talk to our Lord, but also listen as He speaks back through His Word. Prayer is, after all, designed to be a two-way conversation between our heavenly Father and His children. And as we all know, maintaining good communication is hard work which involves sacrifice.

The mindset of the world around us may say that prayer is not worth it. But the Holy Spirit would be at work through the Word to transform our mindset so we can know even more fully the joy of Jesus – joy which includes talking with Him in prayer as we enjoy a walk together. Those walks may not be doing all that I wish they would for my physical health, but they have been great for my spiritual health.

– Pastor Schmidt