Our Reasonable Service

DAYSPRING MACLEOD learns peace of mind from a Lewis Lady

I know I embarked only last issue on a series of articles on apologetics, but please forgive me — this is one of the rare occasions when I sit down not only with an actual idea for an article, but one which I don’t want to put off! I’ve just come back yesterday from another trip to Lewis, you see, and while I won’t regale you with a travelogue this time, I did find it spiritually enlightening.

One of the areas in which the Lord has been challenging me in 2021 is that of ‘singlemindedness’, not least because both my US church and Scottish church have been studying the book of James, which brings this topic to the fore. Even before that, though, my sense of focus was a fallow ground that the Lord had been ploughing in me — gently asking not only for my commitment, but for my attention in what I had considered my personal time. Which, with three small children, is one of the most precious commodities I have.

In Lewis, between driving, sightseeing and childcare, personal time was in particularly short supply. I was down to my ‘verse of the day’ app for devotions, and one of the verses which came up was this old challenge from Romans 12:1. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. I was actually reading it in the King James Version, which words ‘spiritual worship’ even more strongly, as ‘reasonable service’. I like that translation — it makes sense to me. Christ gave his body for us, and so it is indeed only reasonable that we give ours for him. And we have no doubt all heard this verse in connection with pouring ourselves out in service to him: our energy, our gifts, and of course maintaining sexual purity before him too. I would go further and say that it should also apply to what we put into our bodies — how many of us steward our bodies well in terms of diet? (Not putting up my own hand for that one!)

Anyway, we are somewhat used to this urging by Paul, to sacrifice our bodies. But what if we substitute for body the word ‘mind’? Which is after all part of our body! I appeal to you…to present your mind as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. I don’t know about you, but my mind feels like the last bastion of selfishness that I can cling on to in my busy life. That is where I store my private hopes, my secret rebellions and insults when I’m outwardly nodding and smiling, my anxieties and preoccupations, daydreams that send me into a private world in the midst of the humdrum — harmless things, generally, but which take me away from the reality God has sent me into. All of these things become a support which replaces the reliance I should rightfully, reasonably, have on him.

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? the Lord asks through Isaiah (55:2). Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. I spend so much of my time and attention on mulling over my own solutions to my problems, instead of seeking his purposes through them; in focusing on what I hope to achieve or enjoy in the future, instead of seeking him in the exhausting now; in distracting myself instead of enjoying the beauty of his providences and company. There are certain times and places where I ask the Lord for a sense of his presence. I was appalled to realise, some months ago, that there are other times and places where I’m not really interested in that presence. I just want the comfort of my own company, my own thoughts. I reject my Saviour in favour of a TV sit-com or a novel.

All this is not a case for proclaiming abstinence of all entertainment. I don’t think we should feel guilty for enjoying ourselves, or for the odd daydream or distraction. The commandment of the Lord is not ‘Have no other interests but me’, but ‘Have no gods before me.’ And some of those hopes, daydreams, even anxieties, can become gods. What would be useful, though, is a heightened awareness of when they become ‘what does not satisfy’.

You know when you eat too much sugar and it leaves a sour aftertaste in your mouth? We can feel such a thing when we are overindulging in hobbies and self-absorption too: a sort of queasiness of the mind, a heaviness, a sense of ignoring someone calling our name from afar — a sense of quenching both our own spirit and the Spirit. May we train ourselves not to a legalistic, grudging turning from the TV to the Bible, but a desire which says, ‘Tonight, Lord, I’d rather have you.’ May he send upon us the desire itself! So many times I have picked up my Bible not particularly ‘in the mood’, but have felt such a wave of relief when I see the words of truth and peace inside.

In times of anxiety and fearfulness, I have often heard the phrase ‘fix your eyes on Jesus’ as a solution for finding peace. But how does one do that when so many thoughts crowd in and grab attention? Well, that brings me to the second lesson of Lewis. I was in the home of a very dear lady from another denomination, and found that nearly everywhere I looked I found scripture. Verses beautifully rendered in paintings or Harris tweed frames; others plain and worn. The Bible was on her wall, on her side-table, over her dining room, in the kitchen. Words of thankfulness, of reliance, of trust: everywhere a reminder of the gentle hand of the Shepherd. What if, instead of distracting ourselves with our own concerns and interests, we distracted ourselves with the Lord? If we made his presence inescapable, ever before our eyes? Again, I am not suggesting a legalistic show of piety, or even a decorating tip, but a strategy for living in Christ’s company.

This lady shows so clearly the character of the Lord: loving, generous, gentle, joyful, peaceful in the midst of trouble. Everything I want to be when I grow up. So I hope that now, in these busy, formative years, I can start learning, like her, to surround myself with the love of Christ in very tangible ways. Her home was a place of total refreshment: it overflowed with his presence, with shalom.

May my home be like hers, and my mind too. And may yours as well!

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.Isaiah 26:3 •