What does it take?

 

As a child I was overworked.  My parents made me do practically everything around the house.  It was my job to clean my room, haul firewood into the house, feed and water the pigs, weed the garden, dry and put away the supper dishes, take out the garbage, feed the dog and anything else my parents assigned, which included just about everything.  Sure, my older brother helped…if you actually call shaking your face, day dreaming and laughing, help. 

I remember sitting at home in front of the television enjoying a well deserved break from all of my back breaking labor, while my mother was cooking up supper and my dad was shoveling 28 inches of snow off of the roof.  Just as I was finding a moment to breathe, my mother began barking orders for me to set the table while at the same time my dad burst into the house and insisted that I add more wood to the furnace.  Do you see what I mean? OVERWORKED!!

I grudgingly left my beloved Hogan’s Heroes and told my older brother that Mom wanted him to set the table and my little brother that Dad wanted him to  add wood to the furnace.  I then sat back down to watch more of Sergeant Schultz…feeling completely exhausted. 

I remember bringing this to the attention of my parents during one particularly laborious Saturday afternoon.  “Ugh…I can’t wait until I have my own kids so I can make THEM do all the work!”

These filled both of my parents with a great deal of mirth.  So much so in fact that supper was late because my mother could not stop laughing enough to get the ground burger into the pan let alone on my bun. 

I have taken the liberty of instilling this same work ethic into my own children.  They too have had to learn to do their own chores.  My children, however, have it so much easier.  For example, as opposed to having to wash and dry the dishes by hand, all they are required to do is empty “their” portion of the dishwasher.  Yet, this simple task has, at times, proven to be too laborious for my offspring.  One of my sweet laborers, who had been merely assigned to put the flatware away at the completion of each wash cycle, deemed it too extreme and defaulted to dumping the flatware into the drawer entirely unsorted, rather than neatly away as required.

After emphasizing my desired outcome, I expected the silverware drawer to look different.  Yet, day after day it looked as if an earthquake has struck the utensil drawer.  Even after expressing my exasperation and frustration…still no change. Finally, with veins protruding from my forehead I asked, “Seriously! What does it take? What does it take to get you to put knives where the knives belong…and the spoons where the spoons belong…etc!!.”

“I don’t know” She said.

“How about this!  For every fork that is out of place, you pay me $1.  For every knife…$1, and for every spoon $1!

“What!? One dollar for each! I can’t afford that!”

“Exactly! So please, take the extra time and put it away right! It will be like you are making money!”

I am please to say that to this day, our flatware drawer has never looked better!

When we encounter the portion of scripture found in Matthew 11:16-28, we find a similar question evidenced.  Jesus speaks of his works and miracles in the cities where he has been ministering and in a sense is asking the question, “What does it take? What does it take for you to believe and repent?”

What about us?  What would it take for us to believe in Jesus?  What would it take to trust him with everything?

It is a good question to ask…and an even better question to find the answer to. 

May we come to believe and trust in all that Jesus has to offer.