And now we have moved on to action. At last the theory is over, and practice begins. What is most interesting is that any deed in itself is neutral. And then the question arises: ‘What does “the work of God” mean?’
Jesus once gave the answer to this question. We read in John 6:29: ‘Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.’
We have been given an answer for all time. I think it will perplex very many lovers of works if they do not understand what is being spoken of here.
But the Bible tells us about another work that may confidently be called God’s. We read in Exodus 32:16: ‘And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.’
But what, in fact, is the work of God? How can I determine whether I am doing something for God or merely going about ordinary affairs while first ascribing Christian meaning to them? And it is still more interesting to understand whether good and generally approved deeds are the deeds that God considers His own.
I can share my experience and opinion with you, without claiming anything by doing so. Yet for me this means a great deal and helps me tremendously to ‘stay on track,’ because I rejoice in what fills every deed of mine.
One day I saw a jar of jam with the words ‘Made with Love’ written on it. It was not particularly different from other jars, except that it was decorated with pink flowers intermingled with pink hearts. The list of ingredients showed that the jam was as standard as its competitors’ and had been produced on a soulless assembly line according to the company’s recipe. I did not call the manufacturer to clarify precisely what kind of love it had been made with, but the inscription made me wonder: what kind of love is present in my deeds? And how can I put it into them?
And this question turned all my thoughts upside down. I simply did not know what it was and could not understand what it looked like.
Time passed, and I understood that I truly had no love at all. And if I do not possess this gift, how can I put it into anything? And what did all my good deeds look like without love in my heart?
And I realized that there are generally accepted deeds that may be called good and even God’s. For example, visiting a sick person, helping an elderly person, feeding a homeless person, giving something to an orphanage, making a donation to a poor person, giving someone a spiritual book, and much more. Yet my heart is not inclined toward this. And I do not want to be a hypocrite. You begin doing it, but you want to run away. Yet after doing it, you receive a blessing from having taken part in something great, although without any results.
And is this a loving person speaking to you? Do not run away; I have not finished yet.
Then one day I found myself in an interesting situation. A client paid me an advance and asked me to perform certain kinds of work, which I did. Then he asked me, at my own expense, to do something else that we had not agreed upon. This angered me. But the client said that he would not pay me anything more. As a result, I understood that the situation was not in my favour, and I did not know what to do. I began to pray and seek counsel from friends at church. The Lord resolved this problem in an unusual way. And so, while I was finishing all the remaining details and grumbling in my heart about the blatant injustice, the thought came to me: ‘Why not do this work with love?’ There was no way out, and I decided to try. I took a shovel and began to do my work with love. Then something interesting happened within me. I suddenly understood how beautifully such matters can be resolved with love. I began working joyfully and praising God. I began to sing and to speak words of love with every movement. This was something new and amazing for me. A couple of years later, I visited that place, and I was surprised that I remembered and saw in that work my deeds of love. It gave me such joy to look at what I had done with love. It positively shone in my eyes. After this experience, I did all kinds of things with love many times, and each time I experienced special blessings.
It is most interesting to have such an experience in communication with people. We may simply be talking, but at some point, before or during the conversation, I suddenly decide to speak with love, and everything in my perception changes at once. I see before me not merely a person with whom I am speaking, but someone to whom I can also give love through my words and deeds, even without speaking about it. And afterward it is so pleasant to remember these conversations. I do not always remember what we spoke about, but I remember well what I felt at the time.
And any deed of mine can, according to my choice, be done with love or with simple skill. And it is very easy to put love into it when love is present and when there is much of it.
But what I see need not necessarily be noticed by others. At times, someone sees in my deeds of love an embodiment of evil or a waste of time. It is very difficult for me to explain such an understanding on people’s part, and this is sometimes discouraging, but Jesus shows me His wounds and lets me know that things will become even more interesting ahead. And I keep going and put all my love into what I do, trying to treat people and every kind of work in precisely this way. And all these little deeds do not look so bad in my eyes, because they remind me of the love that was put into them.
Even when I write these lessons, I also do it with love, hoping that they will benefit someone or help someone sort out his thoughts and feelings, so that everything may be brought into harmony with God.
And I know for certain that in the Lord’s eyes, what matters and has value is not so much how great the deeds I perform are, but how much love I put into them. This is what interests Him. And God accepts every deed of love that I perform as something right and very precious.
Of course, we should not pervert what must originally be pure and in harmony with God’s will. If I, as a married person, decide to have a relationship outside my marriage and put all my love into it, thereby breaking the seventh commandment, this will be called a sin worthy of death and will arouse disgust in the sight of Heaven. Nor should anyone steal, even with the best motive—for example, the desire to distribute what was stolen to the poor with love. That is not what we are speaking about. We should not ennoble sin or pervert the meaning of love.
Love lives in harmony with God’s law. And I imagine how much love God put into His law when He proclaimed it to people and then lovingly wrote it upon the tables. This is truly the finest reflection of the character of God, Who loves the sinner and hates sin.
It is written: ‘Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31). And this must be done with love in my life.
And all this is my personal experience, which gladdens my heart. But I told very few people about it because I thought it was one of my peculiarities. Recently, however, I shared it with friends simply as one of my bright experiences. Later, one sister shared with me the joy and blessings that filled her life when she began putting all her love into all her little deeds. And it is so pleasant to hear this. Therefore, I hope to learn that such an approach to life will change more than my life alone. And yet it is so simple. One right decision, and everything becomes right and bears the imprint of my love and the approval of Heaven.
I think this experience will help many lovers of works.
Homework 126
Did this lesson reveal anything new to you? Would you like to try this in your life? How do you imagine love expressed in deeds? In your opinion, what deed is the work of God? Does everything done with love reflect true love? How do you understand the practical application of the subject of this lesson? Must other people properly appreciate your love? Please read Matthew 16:27; Deuteronomy 1:17; Romans 8:28; 12:9–10, 14, 21; Revelation 2:19; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 3:13; Galatians 6:4; and Ephesians 6:8 in the light of our lesson.