Seven days ago, as I worked from my normal table at Panera, I watched a new employee start as a cook. They introduced him to the crew and he began learning the ropes. About an hour into his day, he asked the girl beside him “how long did it take you to learn all of this?” It wasn’t the question that caught my attention, but the look on his face as he was asking. He was completely overwhelmed by the enormity of everything he had to learn. And in the moment, he was questioning if he could do it.
 
A meaningful reflection of Jesus happens as we don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of following Jesus.
 
Being a Christian is not only accepting Jesus as Savior, but as our Lord; meaning we let Him be in charge of our lives. Letting Jesus lead our lives is a life-altering decision. It impacts every moment of every day. And there are a lot of things to do as we seek to reflect Jesus. We are called to read the Bible, pray without ceasing, treat others the way we want to be treated, forgive others no matter the offense, give generously, and the list goes on and on.
 
Following Jesus is a big undertaking. It’s easy to look at all of the possibilities of what God can and wants to do in our lives and think “how long will it take to learn all of this?”
 
Q. How do we not get overwhelmed by the to-do list?
A. Focus on abiding instead of doing
 
Abiding is an active word that means to stay connected. Our daily goal as a follower of Jesus is to stay connected with Him. Jesus taught that He is the vine and we are the branches. As long as we are connected to the vine, we will bear much fruit. It’s not the to-do list that produces fruit, but Jesus working in and through us as we live out the list.
 
Abiding in Christ is the goal. As we focus on abiding, the doing makes sense; led by Holy Spirit, who gets us to the right places, doing the right things, with the right people. It may be overwhelming at first, but it will get better. The same guy who was overwhelmed as he started last week is currently working the food station all by himself.
 
Keep Reflecting Jesus!