MONDAYS ARE TEMPTING
Thank God it’s Monday, amen?
Maybe that’s not what you woke up thinking this morning, but we hope to partner with God in bringing you Monday motivation that leaves you saying “TGIM!”
The start to the work or school week can be a reminder of how rested and ready you are for the day or it can leave you regretting the time you spent doing everything but resting this weekend; however, no matter where you find yourself, we believe there’s something encouraging for you here.
Today we focus on doing the obedient thing, even when it costs us. Through the lens of Pauls letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:1-4, he says:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
We want to take a magnifying glass and focus on this specific part: “remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.”
Timothy, a disciple, connects with Paul around the age of 16-24 and begins to go on missionary journeys with him (Acts 16:3).
Can you imagine? You’re young, following Jesus, and someone like Paul takes you under his wing. You travel the world together preaching the gospel over the span of 14ish years, and now you are being commissioned ~400 miles away from your hometown to lead one of the largest churches in Ephesus, a foreign town to you.
What an ask, but also what an opportunity. But what does this have to do with your Monday?
Often in our lives, like Timothy, we are doing our own thing when all of a sudden we meet God in a way that we didn’t expect and He asks of us something we had not imagined.
For me, it was moving from my hometown of Yukon, Oklahoma first to Atlanta, Georgia and then to Boston, Massachusetts. I didn’t know the last time living in my childhood home would be the last time.
For Timothy it was when he met Paul around AD 49-50 at a young age and I don’t think he knew what exactly the next 15+ years of his life would entail.
And like us, I bet this day (or week) may have some unexpected turns and hurdles that you also did not expect. And you, too, will be faced with Timothy’s charge here — to operate from faith in God rather than your own attempts at perceiving reality.
Paul urges Timothy to do what is necessary to protect the Church and assure that the authentic Gospel is being both preached and modeled in Ephesus. Despite there being the temptation to listen to genealogies and myths as opposed to having faith in God’s plan, Timothy is sent to encourage the Church to look to God by faith as opposed to their self-manufactured attempts of knowing information.
In the same way, I believe that this same message directly connects to our Monday.
Think about it: maybe it’s not myths and genealogies, but how tempting is it to either rely on our own strength, coffee intake, or our own strategies to get us through the week? Rather than operating from a place of trust in God, we easily can get into an independent mode of getting ourselves to Friday.
Don’t hear what we’re not saying: planning, executing, and operating from a place of excellence are all good things in the life of a believer. Yet, the place by which you do those things is what matters.
How will you invite God into your productivity today, so that He may lead you by faith rather than your to-do list or lack of preparation for Monday?
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” — Colossians 3:17
When we invite God into our Monday, thankfulness will shape how we approach it.
See you next Monday family,
Unapologetically Prepared