February. It’s cold. It’s dark. And it’s hard—very hard—to get motivated to do much of anything, especially in the morning. Most mornings all I really want to do is turn off the alarm clock, get back under the blankets, and sleep. The older I get, the better hibernation sounds.
So what gets us all up in the mornings? Responsibility does it for most of us. Getting the kids off to school, getting to work ourselves to get a paycheck, getting to the gym to get or keep a few pounds off. And what keeps all of us going all day when it’s still cold and dark? And then what makes us go back out after dinner to meetings or Bible studies or things for the kids?” Again, it’s responsibility. But while it moves us to action, it really does not motivate us to like it.
What would it take for us to be motivated to action and to liking it? What would it take for us to want to get up in the mornings, even if it’s cold and dark; to want to keep going all day when it’s still like that; to want to go back out in the evenings?
In 2 Corinthians 4-5, the Apostle Paul was talking about the things that were his “cold, dark days.” For him they were not just uncomfortable circumstances, they were life-threatening situations. He was “hard-pressed,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down,” (4.8-9), so much so that he said he “carried the death of Jesus in (his) body” all the time, (4. 10.) Talk about things that would make you lose motivation! Yet Paul says he did not “lose heart.” He stayed encouraged, he stayed motivated, he continued to be upbeat in the job and ministry God had given him. I have to ask, “How?!”
The answer comes in 5.14. He says it this way: “The love of Christ compels us.” Paul’s motivation was the love of Christ—Christ’s love for Paul, and us, not Paul’s love for Christ. I know it’s that because he says so: “Because we are convinced that One died for all.” What motivated Paul—and what should motivate you and me—is that Jesus loved him, loves us, and showed it by giving Himself for us.
That He loves me, says Paul, I take by faith, (5.7.) (Technically he is talking about his own resurrection, but in the context it follows from the faith he has in Christ, and his conviction of Christ’s love follows that.)
In that faith and because of that love, Paul says, (5.9), “We try to please Him.” Because He loves me, says Paul, I am motivated to please Him. Everything I do, I do to please Him. Whether it’s getting out of bed on that cold morning when I would rather stay in bed, doing my best at work on that dark and cold day, or going back out on that dark, cold, and perhaps snowy evening, I do it because Jesus loves me and I want to pleased the One Who loves me.
Hibernation? It’s for animals. Motivation? Jesus loves me. You think about that.
– Pastor Jim