By Rose H.
If someone came up to you today and offered you the chance to die. You would probably think they were loony and call the police.
But every day we are given a chance to die. Die to ourselves, die to our flesh, die to our own desires.
One such time for me came this week. It had been a long day I had been tackling a huge amount of laundry (with eight people in our house we generate a lot of it), editing a play, cleaning my room, and reviewing articles for a friend. By the end of the day I was spent. I had just gotten everything done. Finally, I could go back to my room and get ready for bed and relax. It wasn’t to be.
As I headed back to my room, my mom stopped me. “Rose, would you clean the kitchen?” Inwardly I groaned. “Sure” I said. My nice façade edits a lot of things from coming to the surface. I was tired and they wanted me to give more. I had worked hard that day, yet more remained to be done.
I began work. As did I remembered a quote by Amy Carmichael “anytime that you’re call to give or surrender just look at it as a chance to die.” (Roughly translated) A chance to die? What does that mean? Put simply, look at everything that crosses with what you want as a chance to die to your flesh and live for God.
So that is what I tried to do. I began cleaning the dishes, and trying to put aside my own desires. You know what I found? The more that I focus on God and the needs of others, the easier the work became. It was hard at first to put aside what I wanted, but once I had the work before me was a joy. Once I had died to what I wanted, I was able to live for good.
Every day I am given a chance to die. There are always good things to do, friends that want to chat, projects that need to get done, books to read, and posts to write. But many times these things can be a distraction from God and family. So the next time your desires cross with God’s, look at it as a chance to die. To die to yourself, and a chance to live for God.
7 Responses to Rambles From My Heart: I Had a Chance to Die This Week
Allie
Replied on: January 31, 2012, 8:06 pm
amen!
Cristina
Replied on: January 31, 2012, 6:35 pm
Hmm…. this is so very, very,very true.
Kelsy
Replied on: January 31, 2012, 11:08 am
Wonderful post Rose. I think that this is something that we all need to think about.
Shop with Me Mama (Kim)
Replied on: January 30, 2012, 9:37 am
Love this and a total eye opener for sure!
Canadian Mom Blogger
Replied on: January 30, 2012, 7:49 am
Great message. Thanks for sharing.
Kathy
Replied on: January 30, 2012, 6:20 am
A great thing to keep in mind.
Ida
Replied on: January 30, 2012, 4:24 am
Wonderful post Rose. I know it’s so easy to get caught up in life.