The Sacrifice Required
'POWERFUL TIPS' Book News:
The Editor is finished with the manuscript and it is being sent off today to the printers! I'm so excited to get this out to you and pray it may bring you great comfort as you read it (once it arrives in bookstores, that is!). :0)
Other Thoughts:
I heard the other day a parent comment that early-morning seminary should be discontinued because it asks too much. This really gave me cause for pause. Does it ask too much from us to get up very early and at times feel sleep deprived as seminary teachers? Does it ask too much from the youth to get an hour or two less of sleep than their peers?
The same might be asked by a mutual teacher who works with unappreciative youth or by a parent who has their hands full with a rebellious child. Do our sacrifices really matter? Are they needed...because they sure require a lot from us! (well, I guess that's the whole point of "sacrifice," but I think you know what I mean :0).
This has been on my mind much, since hearing the comment mentioned above. Then we sang the following hymn in church on Sunday and I knew the answer.
REVERENTLY AND MEEKLY NOW
Text by Joseph L. Townsend, 1849-1942
Rev'rently and meekly now, Let thy head most humbly bow.
Think of me, thou ransomed one; Think what I for thee have done.
With my blood that dripped like rain, Sweat in agony of pain,
With my body on the tree I have ransomed even thee.
In this bread now blest for thee, Emblem of my body see;
In this water or this wine, Emblem of my blood divine.
Oh, remember what was done That the sinner might be won.
On the cross of Calvary I have suffered death for thee....
Just reading those words out loud brings the spirit in force to me. And so as I contemplate the sacrifice required to teach of His Sacrifice, is it really too much? Or have I just not learned yet how to balance what it is that I need to do to carry this off well?
So sacrifice? Yes, sacrifice is required to teach early morning seminary, to work with unappreciated youth (without anger), or to continue to extend the hand of love to a rebellious child. In my case, there have been seminary teaching days in the past for me, with my chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, that I couldn't even sit up in bed without my husband's help. But once I got to a stand and got ready, got to class and taught the lesson, I would invariably feel the necessity of my sacrifice. For it brought me to a place of undeniable joy and a sense of satisfaction that cannot be feigned.
I WILL continue to teach these youth as I have been asked. The Lord has placed me in this position. He has placed you in yours. May we be blessed as we go forth, teaching of the One who literally bled and died so that we might live and know joy in the process.
What an amazing gift.
Warmly,
C.S. Bezas
The Editor is finished with the manuscript and it is being sent off today to the printers! I'm so excited to get this out to you and pray it may bring you great comfort as you read it (once it arrives in bookstores, that is!). :0)
Other Thoughts:
I heard the other day a parent comment that early-morning seminary should be discontinued because it asks too much. This really gave me cause for pause. Does it ask too much from us to get up very early and at times feel sleep deprived as seminary teachers? Does it ask too much from the youth to get an hour or two less of sleep than their peers?
The same might be asked by a mutual teacher who works with unappreciative youth or by a parent who has their hands full with a rebellious child. Do our sacrifices really matter? Are they needed...because they sure require a lot from us! (well, I guess that's the whole point of "sacrifice," but I think you know what I mean :0).
This has been on my mind much, since hearing the comment mentioned above. Then we sang the following hymn in church on Sunday and I knew the answer.
REVERENTLY AND MEEKLY NOW
Text by Joseph L. Townsend, 1849-1942
Rev'rently and meekly now, Let thy head most humbly bow.
Think of me, thou ransomed one; Think what I for thee have done.
With my blood that dripped like rain, Sweat in agony of pain,
With my body on the tree I have ransomed even thee.
In this bread now blest for thee, Emblem of my body see;
In this water or this wine, Emblem of my blood divine.
Oh, remember what was done That the sinner might be won.
On the cross of Calvary I have suffered death for thee....
Just reading those words out loud brings the spirit in force to me. And so as I contemplate the sacrifice required to teach of His Sacrifice, is it really too much? Or have I just not learned yet how to balance what it is that I need to do to carry this off well?
So sacrifice? Yes, sacrifice is required to teach early morning seminary, to work with unappreciated youth (without anger), or to continue to extend the hand of love to a rebellious child. In my case, there have been seminary teaching days in the past for me, with my chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, that I couldn't even sit up in bed without my husband's help. But once I got to a stand and got ready, got to class and taught the lesson, I would invariably feel the necessity of my sacrifice. For it brought me to a place of undeniable joy and a sense of satisfaction that cannot be feigned.
I WILL continue to teach these youth as I have been asked. The Lord has placed me in this position. He has placed you in yours. May we be blessed as we go forth, teaching of the One who literally bled and died so that we might live and know joy in the process.
What an amazing gift.
Warmly,
C.S. Bezas
posted by C.S. BEZAS at 8:55 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home