The to-do list sat passively on my desk as if mocking my attempts to cross each item off.
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Call the doctor’s office. (Schedule three children on different days to avoid missing work.)
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Write Christmas thank-you’s. (Never mind that it’s almost Valentine’s Day.)
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Finish that writing assignment. (Remember, it’s due tomorrow.)
I did manage to arrange appointments between bites of chewy, warmed-over Sesame Chicken but my little notepad is clearly lacking a display of satisfying check marks–and I love check marks. There is something so wonderfully tangible about slashes of pencil disecting the daily chore list.
I used to fall into the same self-affirming practice with my faith. If I could just stick to the plan, complete the list, maintain the ritual–then I would have done something worthwhile. Moved ahead. Prove myself worthy of God’s love.
- Get up before the sun and read X number of Old Testament chapters. (Forget that I can’t concentrate before 6 a.m. unless I go to bed by 10:00 p.m.–a minor miracle in a home with four children.)
- Forgo the laundry for prayer time. (While there are times to kneel in prayer without the encumbrance of Fruit of the Loom in my hands, I’ve discovered the attitude of prayer is as important as the circumstance of prayer.)
Self-affirmation of faith doesn’t get me–or anyone–anywhere. It only reveals our need for Someone to erase the unattainable list we’ve created for ourselves. And Christ is that Someone. There is no list. The slate is wiped clean. Dear friend, let’s find our satisfaction in Him today.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1-2