{This post is part of my 31 Day blog series Work Hard + Rest Well: Learning Obedience in the Rhythms of Work and Rest.}
My parents always made it a priority to serve.
For as long as I can remember, there was almost always one way or another that my parents were serving in church, usually with one or more kids along for the ride. Many of these roles required my parents to be at church early or to stay late…or both.

And I’m so thankful.
I’m thankful they taught me that serving is work and I’m thankful they taught me that serving is worth the work.

   
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And we had to go to bed early enough on Saturday nights to get up early on Sunday mornings.
And we had chores to help my mom get the family fed and ready for church in the morning.
And we had many stressful mornings of one or two or eight of us all running late and shouting and chaos…

…because serving is work.
…but serving is worth the work.

Because it is in serving that we become like Jesus.

“When he had washed their feet…He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
John 13:12-15

And there is nothing special about washing feet, except that it was the dirtiest, most menial a servant could be given.

Jesus wasn’t simply telling us to wash feet; He was telling us to stoop as low as necessary and to put ourselves in uncomfortable places in order to serve.

And I’ve heard it said over and over that serving is “just too hard”, as if we expect it to be anything but hard. But the irony of it is that the serving itself usually isn’t the struggle. The serving itself is the easy part.

It is the work and the intentionality and the sacrifice that it takes to get ourselves into the place and position to serve that is hard.

And it isn’t just serving…
It’s reading God’s Word.
It’s fellowshipping with other believers.
It’s witnessing to our cities.
It’s spending time in intentional prayer.

The biggest battle is the battle create the space in our lives to seek our God and to serve as He served. Because once the space is created, the serving is usually easy.

Will you work to seek Jesus?
Will you work to make the time to serve?
Will you work to put yourself in a position to work hard for Jesus?

And as each day of this month has marched along it’s gotten hard. The battle is real and I’m failing more than I would care to admit even to myself. But it is a battle worth fighting.

Be blessed
<3