WISE, WILLING, & WOUND UP!

Exodus 35:1-2 "And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death." How many times have you entered the church house, whether it be Sunday AM or PM, Wednesday night, or a revival meeting, with a "ho-hum" attitude? Maybe it was because you were weary from your day, your week, your month, your year, or just life in general. Or perhaps it has become part of your schedule, a habit, or a ritual that you perform on a weekly basis. Or maybe you only go because you know if you don’t there will undoubtedly be someone who calls you to find out where you were. Whatever the reason, we have all had those times where we have allowed our service to the Lord to become "cold-natured." It is a time when we lack the willingness to do anything, regardless of the simplicity or even urgency of the task. I have even heard people say, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak," as an excuse for not doing something. Those words, found in Matt.26:41, are words of the Lord used to caution his disciples to "watch and pray" lest they enter into temptation, but we use them as a reason for not getting something done. Lets face it, we all have times where we let the daily grind cause us to lose siight of what the main goal in a Christians life is. What is that? TO GLORIFY GOD AND WIN LOST SOULS TO CHRIST. Exodus 35:4-5 " And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD;" The words "willing heart" struck me. The Lord commanded us to give to Him, and to serve Him but He wants it to be from a willing heart. IICor. 9;7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." The children of Israel were great at serving the Lord while things were going well, and then grumbling about him when things looked a little bleak or hard. (Not that we have any room to talk) But in this passage their example to us is amazing! Exodus 35:21-22 "And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD'S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted," You know, if your heart is right with the Lord, then your spirit is going be right too. A heart for God will easily give you a mind to work. And when everyone is willing to work, and their heart & spirit are in sync, then the possibilities are endless! And look at what happened to them. They got "stirred up!" Ever been in a church service or a revival, and the fire of God’s Word start to touch that cold heart? All of a sudden you find yourself "stirred up!" And that kind of fire is "catchy." And the next thing you know there are others around you who are getting stirred up too! Souls are being saved, hearts are being changed, lives are renewed and rededicated to Christ. A wise heart + a willing spirit = WOUND UP (stirred up) WORSHIP! When you read on into the next chapter (Exodus 36) the children of Israel are so "wound up" that they give so much that the sanctuary cannot contain it! WOW! That sounds so exciting! Can you picture it? They were giving EVERYTHING they had for the service of the Lord. Ex. 36:5-7, "And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much." I’ll bet most pastors cannot even imagine that. Can you imagine yourself, and the rest of your church family getting so excited about serving the Lord and doing his work that your pastor would have to ask you to stop because their was no more room??? What about this? I wonder how the next generation will serve the Lord if their actions are based solely upon what they see from us? Deut. 30:5-6, "And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Oh, that is what my heart longs for more than anything. To see my children love the Lord and serve the Lord with all their heart and soul. Guess we better put all our heart into it then, don’t you think?