In a couple of recent conversations I have mentioned the spiritual discipline of doing nothing. These individuals were very performance driven people, and incurred a lot of guilt when they weren’t “productive” with their time.

I invited them to set aside time to do nothing with God. Just be, not do. Try it for fifteen minutes. It isn’t as easy as you might think.

The Christian gospel means that in Christ you are loved by God, not because of your deeds, but because of the completed work of Jesus. Once you have discovered that you are so loved, you are freed for good deeds which evidence salvation. You are also able to reject the assumption you could earn one’s place, position, or status in God’s household on the basis of your own merit. Christ spanned a gap, paid a debt, mended a tear that you, by your own effort, could never cross, pay, or repair.

While we are to be good stewards of our lives, doing nothing with God reminds us that apart from God, we could do nothing. So, even the things that we do are a gift of grace, a return of thanks, an act of service, freely given, in response to the love that has been so freely given to us, and freely received.