"Give it the Kutasch!"

     Two "whatever you do" verses to encourage those of us who may be feeling a bit weary of heart while facing much work to be done:
     "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col.3:17)
     "Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ." (Col.3:23-24)
     "Whatever you do"--working on a Sunday school lesson--serving the Lord.  Folding laundry--serving the Lord.  Changing diapers--serving the Lord.  Writing a paper for school--serving the Lord.  Running errands--serving the Lord.  Studying or exercising or cooking or cleaning or loving that unlovely person or encouraging that one who is struggling--serving the Lord.
     What a difference when we remember that all we do and say can and should be offered to the Lord as service to the One who was the ultimate Servant to us and for us.  The Sovereign who served.  How can we do any less?  And how transformative when we know that our smallest acts of love or forgiveness or kindness or grace or helpfulness can be means of serving and honoring and rejoicing in our Lord.
     And I love that we are commanded to give "thanks to God" in whatever we do.  Even the distasteful.  Or the difficult.  Or even the things we despise and desperately want to delay.  We're to do them ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus and to give thanks to God through Him.  He's the Creator and the Sustainer of our thankfulness--our Sovereign Savior who served.
     So we place our gaze upon Him as we serve.  We seek His glory as we serve.  And we choose to give thanks as we serve.
     And then we do it "heartily!"  We do it with everything we've got...because after all, we've only got one shot at serving on this planet.  We'll have eternity to rejoice...but only right now, only today, to serve in whatever ways He's called us to serve.
     I was reminded the other day of one of my favorite stories I heard years ago from Chuck Swindoll.  He and his sister, Luci, used to love to go fishing in the summers at an old pier in a muddy bay.  Every single time they went, they saw an old man who sat on the end of the pier fishing.  Mr. Kutasch would sit motionless for hours on end waiting for the fish to bite.  And then suddenly, with the most imperceptible bobbing of the cork, Kutasch (as they called him) would suddenly jerk his line out of the water with such ferocity and enthusiasm that the line (and any poor fish on it) would fly out of the water and back over their heads.  Apparently this happened time and again.  Kutasch rarely, if ever, caught anything, but he never seemed to give up trying.  And, boy, every time he had a bite, he would give it all he had ripping that line out of the water!         And so Chuck and his sister began telling one another, whenever they had some especially difficult challenge ahead of them, "Give it the Kutasch!"  Over the years it stuck--whether facing cancer treatments or dealing with family hardships or facing burdensome work issues or simply persevering in something long and hard--they'd call one another and simply say, "Give it the Kutasch!"  I love that!  That's what it means to work heartily...and not give up!
     So today, Whatever we do, let's do it for the Lord, do it with thanksgiving..and give it the old Kutasch!  And to God be the glory.