Friday, May 14, 2010

Life Signposts

I was passing by a Bank the other day and I saw standing signposts with this inscription: “NO PARKING, NO WAITING, NO HAWKING, NO LOITERING, KEEP MOVING!” And I thought to myself “wow! These are the instructions of life” If we keep these instructions in our lives we would be propelled to live in Today and for Tomorrow. In life we must try not to quit or be perturbed by the happenings around us. We must always remember that we are running a race. Time is attached to every thing we do in the Kingdom. Learn to forget the things that are behind and press into what God has for you now and tomorrow (See Philippians 3:13,14). You can never change anything in your past but you can always influence the future. I know you might have incurred much injuries in the course of the race of life but forward is the only option for you. God will heal your wounds as you stay on track. Hebrews 10:35-39 say: “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Saturday, May 1, 2010

TOO BUSY TO COME


In Luke 14:16-24, we read a very insightful parable given by the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. It was about a certain man who made a great supper and bade many through his servants to “come; for all things are now ready” All he required of them was to COME. Everything was set. All they needed to do was just COME. Few days ago while I was reading this portion of Scripture, the Lord strongly impressed these words in my heart: “TOO BUSY TO COME”. Then He further expounded it in the manner I want to share with you briefly.

The Lord Jesus went on to say that they all with one consent began to make excuses. Here are the excuses they made: “And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” (verses18–20). Jesus carefully chose His Words. He said they made – not gave – excuse. Meaning their excuses were all made up, – not sufficient enough to have kept them from attending the supper. Plainly, it wasn’t really in their hearts to attend. Let me ask you, if you had invited your friends for a celebration which, of course, is a very special one for you (maybe your Birthday, Anniversary, Wedding etc) and they give these kind of excuses, would you find them reasonable enough to have kept your friends from attending? Just A closer look at these excuses, you will discover that they weren’t concrete enough to have kept these people away from attending this great supper – too flimsy! These were things that could wait for a moment without anything actually getting spoilt or negatively affected – just one supper.

Now, here’s the point, 3 categories of people accommodate certain excuses in life which are deadly. You’d do well to see if you are represented here and make necessary adjustments:

 Those too busy to receive Salvation. In the first category, we find sinners who are too busy to be saved. So occupied with vanities that they never give a thought about their eternal destination. So chocked up with activities that they never have the time to go to Church, listen to a Preacher or even read a tract. They are so blind to spiritual realities that they haven’t yet seen the need to consider their eternal destination. These people are too occupied with various activities and ambitions that they think they are ok and don’t need anyone – even Jesus. Some of them have much of the various necessities of life and they feel so satisfied with things and ignore the vacuum calling for their attention while some even try to fill it with worldly pleasures, achievements, good works etc. They are too busy to receive eternal life.

 Those too busy to come into Intimacy with God. In the second category, we find saved and sanctified folks who are too busy to develop a lifestyle of fellowship with the Lord. They have the time for everything else but God in their everyday life. For them, time spent with God is like a waste. They never say so but they act just so. Their time is too precious for the Lord; He can have the leftovers if there are ever any. Joyce Meyer says “if you’re too busy to have time with God then you are too busy”. Having time with the Lord through the study of the Word, Meditation and Prayer are vital ingredients that make for the growth and establishment of the Believer. When we fellowship with the Lord, He helps us connect with His exact purposes for our lives. We then become useful to God here on earth, He then uses us as agents of change – impacting lives and changing destines. The presence of the Lord must never be neglected in our lives. When we fellowship with the Lord, He works in us and through us. We then become fruitful and more effective. Time spent with the Lord is never a waste – it’s a seed! Whatever it costs, be sure to have quality time with the Lord – not leftovers! When we neglect our time with the Lord we show irreverence for His presence. It is like having Jesus sit down on your dining table to feast with you, and because you are in haste, you leave him there and walk away saying “Lord, when I’m back I’d see you”. No true Believer would consciously do such a thing in the physical, but that is exactly what we do when we neglect our time with Him daily. In fact, if Jesus were to physically show up in your house, you’d cancel every appointment for the day and just want to sit with Him all day. This should be our approach to our time with the Lord Jesus daily. He is always present with us in reality. Let’s re-arrange our priorities – first things first!

 Those too busy to make and keep a Commitment. In the third category, they are saved, fellowship with the Lord everyday and are excited about it but do nothing for the Lord and His Kingdom. They are always in the ‘closet with the Lord’. They have accepted the first part of Mark 3:14 “Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him” but not the second part: “and that He might send them out to preach,” (NKJV). The Great Commission is God’s number one mandate for ever saint. Many saints claim to love the Lord but are too busy doing so many things that they ignore what matters most to Him – His heart beat. Jesus said in John 14:15 that obedience to His command is the proof that we love Him. His command is for us to take the Good news (Gospel) of His love and life to the world (Mark 16:15-18, John 3:16; 10:10). This ought to be our greatest passion and preoccupation. But we see saints who claim to love God but have no corresponding actions to that effect. They never make a commitment to the Lord to be absolutely obedient to the Heavenly vision. They make no commitments whatsoever to Kingdom matters. In these last days we are seeing so much lack of commitment to the things of God. Remember, one day we shall all stand before The Lord Jesus, our works would be judged on the basis of how obedient we have been to His commands – the Heavenly vision.

We can as well accord all these excuses to the devil’s influence over the minds of people. But we must understand that we always have the choice to make and then become responsible for our decisions. Another trick the devil uses apart from excuses is procrastination – pushing things that ought to be done today into a tomorrow that never comes. We must take our stand against the devils influence and discipline ourselves prayerfully to always put first things first. Accept God’s Salvation, Get into Intimacy with God by spending time with Him and Obey His biddings and you’d experience His fullness!