Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Odyssey Connection: Hard Work

Odyssey Connection - No Chemistry Whatsoever:

No Chemistry Whatsoever tackles one theme from two different angles. Two important angles, but we'll look at each one at a time. 

Connie signs up for what she thought would be an easy Chemistry class and winds up having Eugene as a teacher. She quickly finds out that she might actually have to put some effort into her work in order to get the grade she desires. Honestly there are a lot of people out there pulling a "Connie Kendall". They want to get through a class (or whatever) with very little effort and as quickly as possible. The problem is that with that mindset, you don't actually learn anything or at least not as much. The verse that comes to mind is Ephesians 6:7. 
"7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,"
I think they should have tied that verse in there somewhere, but that's alright. The point is even with our school work we should work at it as if for God. 

The second angle was with Barrett memorizing verses. Like Connie, he attempted to take the easy way out and memorize only the shortest verses he could find in order to get the prize of water world. He quickly found out that the prize wasn't the point. Mr. Whitaker was trying to get them to memorize scripture so they would have it as defense against the enemy and as a comfort in the hard times. The Bible isn't just a bunch of words for us to store in our noggins. It's our sword. And it's necessary for us to treat it like one. Let's say you're house sitting for a friend and an armed man comes to the door. You know there's a gun somewhere in the house, but you're friend didn't tell you where. The gun can't protect you since you don't know where to find it. Memorization is oober important for the same reason. It can't help us out if we don't know where to look. And yes it does take work to memorize the verses and their context, but it's worth it. 

Both of these angles stick out in my mind. I'm sometimes guilty of trying to take the easy way out. Hard work is well... hard. But that's the idea. You appreciate something a whole lot more if you actually spend time pouring, sweat, blood and tears into. Ok, maybe not blood but you get the idea. 

Here are some questions to ponder in reflection to this episode;
1. What is God telling me about working hard?
2. Am I working as if for God or for men?
3. Am I armed with the sword of the spirit?
4. Am I constantly working on sharpening my sword by memorizing scripture?

I want to challenge you to use this episode as a spring board for inspiration. Ask God to pinpoint the areas in your life where you need to work harder and put in the extra effort, and remember to work as if for God and not for men. That small change in mindset makes all the difference in the outcome.
Once again this has been Freddy Jay connecting the gap between Odyssey and YOU!

No comments:

Post a Comment