28/09/11

Not the time to rest or enjoy life

Luke 17:7,8 - But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

The Bible talks of having rest and having peace in the Lord so most people come thinking they will have rest from the worries of this world and they will have peace from the troubles of this world. But after the initial period of coming in the Lord, when the Lord starts to work on those whom He has called to mature them in spirit they find life difficult and they need to nearly give up on life and the pleasure of this world. Most among these find they run a very high risk of fear of life from people of this world.

When Jesus said case your burden unto me, so that He can take care of them, He meant it. When we come to the Lord we find even though there are problems they do not harm us. Our enemies may conceive great plans to harm us or destroy us but none of them will be fruitful and these in turn land themselves into problems.

When Jesus said cast your burden unto me, He also said take my burden. It is this factor most people prefer to ignore and thus find the first part of the scripture failing. When we take the Lord's burden we carry our Cross. No doubt the Lord's burden is far bigger and just impossible for us but yet Jesus says it is light like a feather and this is because He gives us His Spirit Who helps us in carrying our burden. When our Helper helps us carry our Cross it becomes very light.

In today's message the Lord says He has planned great things for us but this is not the time to enjoy. He has freed us from the bondages of evil and destruction of this world so we should willingly become bondmen unto Him. He asks us for a small sacrifice for a far greater prize in Heaven, it is like giving just one day for a lifetime of pleasure and that is not much which the Lord asks for.

We all know one day when our evening comes we will sleep in the Lord so let us give this day (this earthly life) to the Lord to receive great rewards in Heaven. We also should not worry of being burden for if no sane man breaks the neck of his ox which runs his mill; then will our perfect God do that?


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You freed us from the bondages of sin and death and all You ask of us is small sacrifice of our fleshly desires on earth. For this sacrifice too You reward us greatly in Heaven, like Paul says with spiritual crowns like royals. Even for this sacrifice it is You Who helps us fulfil it. Lord, help us realize the great bargain we have in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Hebrews 13:6 - So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?

1 Corinthians 9:9-10
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Is it for the oxen that God careth,
10 or saith he it assuredly for our sake? Yea, for our sake it was written: because he that ploweth ought to plow in hope, and he that thresheth, to thresh in hope of partaking.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)