Toilet seats and boot straps.

Have you ever faced a day, a week, an extended period of time, and found yourself slowly overwhelmed by the temporal cares and troubles of the world around you? Work, interpersonal relationships, finances, car troubles, broken toilet seats, sore backs...they all seem to gently yet purposely drown us in persistent waves of turmoil. Well, I have a cure that the Lord revealed to me tonight (again and not for the first time!...I can be a little hard-headed)!! Pick up your boot straps (I just noticed this week that my work boots do indeed have straps and that they do help you to pull them on...especially when you're tired and worn out!!), pull on your boots, and get to the business at hand--loving God.
Awesome God that He is, He has even provided the means by which we can love Him. We can obey Him. We can serve Him. We can do His good work. If you do these, a funny thing will start to happen. God will start to be the true center of your life. The sons of Korah had it right: a day in the presence of God is better than a thousand elsewhere! (Ps 84:10) And tonight I got to experience the evaporation of the aforementioned waves. I entered into the fellowship of His people, I served and loved His children, I read His Word, I gloried in His goodness. I highly recommend it!! As a matter of fact, so does our Lord! (Check it out: Romans 7:5-6, Galatians 5:13-14, and Colossians 3:23-24.)
He even provides a place where anyone and everyone can quite easily get started: church! It is kinda like a boot camp: it is a safe and structured environment where one can receive training and experience in this whole business of loving and serving. But instead of raving lunatic drill instructors, you get kind men and women who love God. You get the chance to practice and prepare for Christian living. And then you go home and to work and to school...the real battlefields! You leave behind your valuable and seasoned warriors while you head out to the front lines. They can't necessarily go with you and you shouldn't necessarily stay with them. You have to go at some point. We all do.
But don't forget to fight when you get out there! Your leaders from church can't possibly get out to all the places that we can. You can always take a breather and head back to church. Just don't forget to get back out into the fight. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43-48). I would venture to say that you're not going to find a whole lot of enemies and persecuters serving with you at church! But you will find them at the front lines. Semper Fidelis and Godspeed!!