Home is where the dishes don't pack themselves away.
We've all heard the cliche, "home is where the wifi connects automatically" which is a very comforting thought but the more time I spend at home, the more I've realized that this is a rather complacent perspective of what home should be.
While home is a familiar place, that should most definitely be a safe space and a place where we feel most loved, home is also a place of preparation.
Recently, I spent some time away from home, and as expected, I didn't need to do any house chores at any of the accommodation. So when I got home, you can imagine my surprise when I was starkly reminded of all the "chores" that needed to be done.
Maybe you don't need to go away for a week to forget that there are things that need to be done at home, maybe you just need to leave the house to go to work or run an errand and there are the perpetual reminders as soon as you get home - often when you least feel like getting anything done.
Honestly, even after a break, I did not really want to do the menial and pretty mundane tasks that required regular attention, but while packing dishes away, I realized how thankful I am to actually have dishes that I get to pack away.
Sure, the break from reality was sweet, but the gratitude for all that we get to have was so much sweeter.
More than just the simple gratitude for what we have, the gratitude of getting to serve in the house I live in, is such a privilege. Being served is great, but serving starts at home. And I want to serve my home best.
Home is the preparation ground for everything in our lives.
Home is where we are taken care of, so we know how to take care of others.
Home is where we are loved, so we can genuinely love others.
Home is where we serve, so we can learn how to serve others.
If you've ever lived on your own you will know the true sacrifice of serving - doing thankless tasks - because the only one thanking you, is you.
This for me was one of the most valuable lessons: serving starts with serving yourself.
And not a selfish, I deserve everything my way, kind of serving. But a selfless, I am doing things with excellence for me, so I can do things with excellence for others, attitude.
This kind of attitude, one that slowly diminishes entitlement, is one that will be the most valuable lesson in life, and one that I believe is taught at home.
Although home is a comfortable space, I think we give home too much credit for being the place we can totally let our guards down and become a little too apathetic.
When in fact, home should be the place we live from, the place we have learnt everything we need to know, so we can live out who we have become.
Home is the place we by default serve the most, even when we least want to; and it should not be out of duty, but from gratitude.
The degree to which we serve at home, should match the degree to which we serve others.
Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae [modern day Turkey] about how we should approach everything we do in our lives - even packing away the dishes.
Colossians 3:23 TPT
Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others.
Realizing that how I approach everything I do is actually an outward reflection of my relationship with Jesus has helped me to adjust firstly my relationship with Jesus, and secondly my attitude towards every activity that I do.
It’s not just the things that people see me do. It’s the things that people have no idea about, the things only I know about that truly reflect my intimacy with Jesus.
My prayer for you today, is that you would recognize the gift in everything.
That you would live whole heartedly in everything that you do.
And that your life would be an overflow of the generosity that God brings when we choose to live and do every activity as if we were doing it only for Him.
JCS
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