Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Psalms 127:1-2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.127.1-2.KJV
God gives us life and breath to take His message everywhere, shouldn’t we be grateful enough to take His message everywhere I go? That’s the command which Jesus gave to His disciples and we are His disciples in this day and age, if you have given your life to Him. So why do we squander the gifts which He gave us when we should use them for making more disciples for His Kingdom?
Mostly because we are fearful of what people might say about us. God can help us to do His will just as He did with every person that He called in times past. If God in Jesus Christ is your Redeemer and Savior, please tell others about Him and what He has done for you! He saved you from an eternity of suffering for a terrible decision of rejecting His Grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. I pray that everyone who reads this will seek Him out and learn more about His offer of salvation and then accept it as yours because you don’t have to do anything more than believe in Jesus’ atonement for you to be saved.
What the heck is that? I call it Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. Why am I bringing this crazy acronym up now? Because it is relevant for the church and for all adults as well.
Those who are in positions of “power” get distracted all of the time, have you noticed this? The news media comes up with some crisis at least on a weekly basis and everybody runs over there to see what all the fuss is about. Then, they will come up with another “crisis” and everyone will be up in arms about whatever that is. They, the media and those who are trying to distract us, will push the story or the “problem” onto social media and it goes viral. Then everyone is all upset and protests break out all over….what? Do we really know for sure what we are upset about?
If you haven’t noticed this trend, if you want to give it a name, just think about it and you will see the pattern. Especially over the last three years or so. The “Me too” movement, all of the allegations of misconduct by our President which were found to be false, the outrage over children who were getting into vaping. The list could go on and on and on. My point is that we run from one crisis to another depending on how loud it seems to be and who it may affect. But we aren’t paying attention to what is really important when we run from one place or problem to another.
Our attention gets tossed to and fro on the whim of media coverage and the news cycle covering some perceptual “problem” at the moment. Thank God that He doesn’t get distracted like we do! The problem of distraction has only grown worse since “smart-phones” have become so embedded in our culture. Look around when you go to a store or a mall. How many people are actually talking to each other? How many of them are looking where they are going? The answer to both of those questions is “Not much”.
We only pay attention to what is on our phones and the media which we are a part of at the time. God should be more important than that slab of plastic and magnesium and circuitry that is called a “smart-phone”. God should be the focus of our daily lives and in a more prominent position than just once or twice at church in a month’s time. Your relationship with Him is more important than you realize because we, as Christians, are called to be His ambassadors to the world around us. So what happened? God did not move and He didn’t rescind the command to “go into all of the world preaching the gospel“.
While it is true that Jesus said this to His disciples it applies to each of us as well. Those of us who have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior are supposed to be taking the message wherever we go, no matter where that might be. Don’t get distracted from your calling because it must be finished or at least be in the process of being finished by the time Jesus returns, which will likely be pretty soon. All of the pieces on the board are or soon will be in place and the countdown has begun. The call of the Lord to all those who belong to Him, who have died and to those who are still living, will sound in our lifetime. (This is my opinion so don’t disregard me as some crazy old man).
Get your attention focused back on the Savior Who paid your price and saved your soul. Seek Him while He may be found and repent of your wandering ways. Get up and follow Him today because He may call on us to come home tomorrow or next week or next year and if you aren’t ready, like the bridesmaids who didn’t have enough oil, He will come while you are getting ready and the door will be closed.
The ones who were ready when He appeared went in to the celebration. The others who had to get ready were locked out of the feast.
Jesus taught us in Matthew that we are blessed when we’re poor in spirit, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to us when we are humble (poor in spirit). What does “poor in spirit” mean? The link that I have here is one which is through Rev.Billy Graham’s site and it is his wisdom that I defer to. God wants us to be humble in our spirits not prideful or in the same situation as the pharisees during Jesus’ time. Living in a condition of feeling superior in your faith as if you have the answers and you know more than other believers is prideful and it leads people down the wrong path in their walk with Jesus. Remember, pride is the chief sin which precedes other sins leading many down a very dangerous path.
Poor in spirit or living humbly in your faith and giving your life and the outcome to God is the way that we should live our lives as Christians. But what if you have been taught something different? At home or at church we may learn a different “truth” about the way to live our lives as Christians. So what do we do then? Seek out the answers in God’s Word. Jesus taught many times that we should depend upon Him and Him alone for our strength and for our daily walk with Him.