Usefulness or Relationship

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20

It seems to me that men seem to judge relationship by action: what one does for another. Women judge relationship by some other, to me, less concrete, standard. I wish I understood it better because it seems to be closer to the standard that Jesus uses. In this verse, Jesus Christ is saying: “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. 
It’s an understandable trap. Today in his sermon, our Pastor marveled that it was Thomas, the doubter, who traveled further than any other, to India,  to bring the good news. It’s so much easier to measure the service than the relationship expressed when Thomas addressed Christ, “My Lord and My God.”
The problem is actions or service are not always pure. We do things for a variety of reasons and we have varying success in our doing of them. But from a right relationship flow “rivers of living water”  that we neither control nor can we measure. 
The person who is in right relationship is always a greater blessing than the person of great talent and service. We should focus on relationship and not service. Don’t you hate it when the women get it right?
Be blessed.
Nick

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