21 November 2011 (I Hate Mondays)

Dear Diary, 21 November 2011

I hate Mondays.

They are the beginning of the end of the fun weekend. This is the day that we receive our responsibilities for the week. Now that I am older, it is my sole responsibility to complete all homework and turn in assignments before their expiration. This is just another unfortunate side effect of growing up.

Responsibility. When I was little, or littler, I used to imagine this word coming with the car keys. Now I only see another folder being added to the already daunting pile on my desk. It is not so much if I don’t do it, then I will be disappointing those counting on me. When I got a 56 on my physics test last week, I was more sorry because my science teacher was disappointed than anything.

It is so hard to get into the mode of doing schoolwork! For maximum results, I must be “immersed” into my work. Focusing and concentrating, I am able to retain the information. However, too much focus and concentration just stresses me out.  I think “this will never be over and I will not remember the things I need to”. What I need is incentive.

The promise of the weekend is always a good incentive. Something for me to look forward to every week when school is bearing down hard. However, the weekend is fleeting. Friday seems to stretch out forever in front of me, but in a moment it is over and Monday hits me hard yet again. So I need something more substantial; more changeless. Could God give me any comfort in this?

Titus is a book given to a guy – Paul’s friend – sent on all the tough jobs. Titus is the problem solver. The one you call in a crisis. Well, hand-in-hand with the task of sorting out the Cretian’s church status, Titus received instructions. These instructions contained a description of what God’s church should look like: who the leaders should be, what kind of backgrounds they should have, how their character should look. When added altogether, these instructions seem impossible to follow and even more impossible to enforce!

Finally, near the end of chapter 2, Paul gives the clincher. Here, he tells Titus why being “upright” is so important. Jesus gave himself for us to pay for our sins and wickedness so that we could be His own. We are His treasure! We are made in His image, bought at a price, watched-over continually, and loved with a fierce love*. We should try to do the best we can simply because we have been given so much! While we can’t earn His love, what we can do is carry out the jobs He has entrusted to us. This is the life He gave me. I’m going to do the best I can, and whether I eat or drink or do Pre-Cal or study History, I will do it all for the glory of God.

*(Genesis 1:27) So God created man in His own image.

(Ephesians 1:7-8) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

(Joshua 1:9) Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord Your God will be with you wherever you go.

(1 John 4:10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.