Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
I have spent time trying to figure out what that means for my life. Currently, this means working for the glory of God. I had a very rough week at work. It seemed never ending, my boss did several things that I had to make myself repeat this verse, my kids couldn't seem to listen. It just wasn't a glorifying week. I left for my lunch break on Thursday in tears from frustration. This verse is just a reminder that I may not be happy where I am, but I need to press on for the glory of God.
Next week, I am going to memorize Romans 12:11-12.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
1. What does this verse say?
In the most simplest of forms... This verse says that we should serve the Lord with zeal and spiritual fervor and we should be joyful and patient when we are suffering and be faithful in our prayers.
2. What does this verse mean?
To be sure I dissect this verse the best possible, I looked up the definition to several of the words. Zeal is defined as "eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something". Fervor means "intensity of feeling or expression". So, we should always be eager and want to serve the Lord. Affliction means "great suffering". So we should always have hope, patient in our times of suffering and faithful that the Lord will come through!!
3. What does this verse mean to me?
Lately at work, I have been lacking in zeal and spiritual fervor at work. God has given me this job and I need to be thankful for it. Even though it is not where I want to be, I still need to work with eagerness to serve the Lord. The part that is screaming out to me in this verse is that I need to be patient in my affliction. As I already discussed, I am not satisfied where I want to be at work. I need to be patient that the Lord will pull me out of this. This also means I need to be more faithful in my prayers. Our God is strong and mighty and will pull me out of this. He will answer my Sun Stand Still prayer. I just have to be more faithful when praying to Him about these things.
I am thankful for this verse. I am thankful for this way to go through a verse and help me realize what it truly means for me. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord in all that I do. Our God is an awesome God, He is.