The Difficult Part

Bill Hall

Many, before entering the Lord’s service, no doubt  feel that once they have been baptized, become accustomed  to attending worship periods regularly, and overcome some  of their old habits, they will pretty well “have it made’’ in  serving the Lord. Doing these outward services, however, is  the easy side of obeying Christ. The difficult side involves  that which is within; it involves keeping the heart right.

It is easy to attend the worship periods, but it is  difficult to worship, to rid the mind completely of worldly  things, and to concentrate fully on the Lord. It is easy to  sing, but it is difficult to meditate on the words, making the  sentiment of the song one’s own sentiment. It is easy to  bow the head, but it is difficult to pray. It is easy to eat bread and drink fruit of the vine, but it is difficult to  concentrate fully as one should on the suffering of Christ.  Sitting through a worship period is not in itself worship, for true worship must proceed from the heart (Ephesians  5:19; John 4:24).

In moral realms, the difficult thing to do is to keep  the heart pure. It is relatively easy to refrain from killing,  stealing, or committing adultery. After all, one is hindered  in such matters by the laws of the land, social pressures,  forbidding circumstances, fear of being caught, etc. It is  difficult, however, to completely rid the mind of jealousy,  selfishness, discontent, lust, hatred, bitterness, a spirit of  revenge, etc. Anyone who has ever been jealous of another  knows the difficulty involved in cleansing the heart of this  terrible sin. So it is with all the sins of the heart.

It is easy to develop a friendly way and gracious  manner with others, but it is difficult to develop genuine  love and concern for others within the heart. It is easy to  give something to some charity drive, but it is difficult to  develop real compassion for the poor. It is easy to say,  “Forgive me, Lord,’’ but it is difficult to repent.

The wise man said, “Keep thy heart with all diligence;  for out of it are the issues of life’’ (Proverbs 4:23). This is  an essential part of serving the Lord…and the difficult part!

                                                                                                      Via Search For Truth