Help or Love?

My dear wife was in Parkside Rehab for 19 days.  I was there every day bringing clean clothes and taking home dirty ones.  I helped sliding her up in her bed, getting her into the wheelchair, and taking her meal tray back when she was finished.  I helped her change her clothes, and I put cream on her legs and feet.  The CNA’s and nurses thanked me often for helping them, because all of the jobs that I did were actually their jobs to do.  They thought that I was helping them.  What they didn’t realize was that I was helping my wife, not them!  I liked the workers, but I loved my wife.  Kathy and I have been an item for 51 years, and for many more, I hope.  I remember the warm October afternoon in 1971 when I made a vow to Kathy Papastavro, “I take thee Katherine to be my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as we both shall live.”  And that vow still holds true today.  But do I take care of her because I have to?  No!  I take care of her because I love her!  So … why do we serve Jesus Christ?  Because we have to?  No!  Because we love Him!  Paul said in II Corinthians 5:14, “For the love of Christ constraineth us …”  When we serve Jesus Christ it should not be because we have to, but because we want to!  Hey, is it a chore for you to go to church?  Is it hard for you to remember to read your Bible each morning?  Is it work for you to talk with others about Jesus?  Or does your love for Jesus ooze out of you effortlessly?!  Thank about it.