talents are worship…when they’re offered back to Him

Well, o-kay. You know you’ve been off your blog a few days when it asks you to log back in {lol}. But that’s okay. There are times when life requires you just to live it. Which is what happened this last week.

Everybody was sick with this cold/allergy mess. And it would seem that, as of two days ago, I’m now heading for ’round 2′. {Oh…yay.} However, I did stumble across an interesting idea during my devotional time yesterday, and decided it would be worthy of sharing {despite the pile of kleenex’s at my side}.

So usually I pray and read my Bible/devotional books during my devotional time and…that’s about it. Now I admit that since I’m a stay-at-home mom, at any point in the day I’m able to pray, read encouraging books, or watch an inspiring show that helps me to grow…while doing my daily routine/chores. But my point is, my devotional time has typically only included the usual stuff – reading my Bible and praying.

But I’ve heard it often said that everything we do is worship to God. Not just the ‘spiritual’ stuff that would seem so obvious, but also the every-day-activities we work at or take care of…they are worship as well.

So, while I was praying in my daughter’s room {she was asleep in mine}, I started noticing how it needed a little ‘pick-me-up’. A minor de-cluttering. Mind you, it wasn’t bad, but…it could’ve been better.

And I started to feel ‘distracted’ by my {God-given} urge to de-clutter and organize when, all of a sudden, I felt the gentlest ‘nudge’ from God to do it during my prayer time. He reminded me that He created me with an organizing/cleaning talent, and that when I offered it back to Him by actually doing it…that was worship. Sorta like a sacrifice of praise.

Which reminded me of the men who were given ‘talents’ in the Bible. The two guys that actually did something with their talents, in the end, they were given more. And the guy who did nothing, it was taken away.

So, feeling a bit odd, I got up and started straightening her room while praying. It only took about 15 minutes to complete my task, and then I sat down to read my Bible, ‘finishing’ my prayer time.

And that’s when an ‘aha’ hit me.

It may not be every day that I do something like that because, for my OCD self, it could get quite distracting and I might would begin to focus on what I was doing rather than why I was doing it. But I saw that, on some days, I could let my prayer and Bible reading become more like ‘book-ends’…allowing me to fill the middle with a typical chore I would normally do throughout my day, letting that also become part of my worship time.

The Bible says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” {Colossians 3:23}

And as I figured out yesterday, that also includes de-cluttering my daughter’s room. Because it’s one of the talents He’s given me. And when I offer it back to Him…it becomes worship.

After it was over, I felt such peace. It was as though I had ‘spiced’ up my time with Him and tried something new and fresh. And it felt so wonderful. Like me and Him had had some unexpected fun together.

So, I don’t know what it would look like for you but…try it. Pick something that is just a part of your normal, every-day routine…and do it as a sacrifice for Him. Let it be as ‘spiritual’ as attending church feels like. Or reading a devotional. Or studying His Word.

And watch God show up…delighted in what you’ve offered Him.

After all, just ask Moses – apparently God’s a big fan of using what’s already in your hand.

{Image courtesy of Flickr}