BIBLE PASSAGES
Genesis 23:1-25:181
Kings 1:1-31
Matthew 8:19-22, Luke 9:57-62
We have been given a segment of time to live in. We have been chosen to live in a particular generation, era, and geographical location. Our time is limited on this earth. Our lives are eternal, but our outpost here on earth is limited.
Yeshua desires for us to come to Him willingly and serve Him wholeheartedly. Often when we decide to follow him, we become concerned about the relationships around us.
Yeshua clearly wants us to understand that our responsibility is not the choice that others make but our example to them. When Yeshua said, “Come, follow Me.” He meant now. Too often we hold out on the Lord and want to help the people around us that are spiritually dead.
Make no mistake-- Yeshua’s words are life. Only God’s Holy Spirit can bring a person from death to life. There is nothing you can do to wake them up. That place is a mysterious and sovereign place between them and God. Once they awaken, by our example all over the earth, they will be able to hear the words “Come, follow Me” as well and listen to the Shepherd’s voice.
When we understand that we are God’s choice, that means a full surrender and obedience to His amazing grace.
He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God. Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” - Luke 9:59-62
God has numbered the hairs on our head and the days of our life here on earth. It is vitally important that when we surrender our lives to Him, that we obey the commands of the Lord, and go and preach about the kingdom of God.
In the Luke scriptures this week, we read about full lives, obedience, reconciliation, the spiritually dead, and our need to be faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of our fathers. We realize that Yeshua the Messiah, the King over all the earth, has fulfilled our need for redemption and is seated at the right hand of the throne of David.
We need to embrace our need to be used by God, to be led by the Spirit in the expansion of the word of God into the hearts of all people on the face of the earth. We must remember Jesus is counting on us to be His agents and messengers of the “good news”. This can only be accomplished by a life transformed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and and life of obedience to the Spirit's directions.
“Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac. But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac. Abraham lived for 175 years, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.” - Genesis 25:5-9
Just as Isaac and Ishmael buried their father Abraham together, thousands of years ago, we are called to be agents of reconciliation to the one new man.
Questions for Reflection:
▪ Do I understand/believe that I am God's choice?
▪ How am I spending my time in light of who I serve?
▪ When I look back over time, do I remember the promises God gave
me?
▪ How do the words that Jesus said, "Let the spiritually dead bury the dead" impact me?
▪ Am I able to discern the spiritually dead around me and instead cling to the life in front of me?
▪ How do I activate my faith and am I willing to do whatever it takes?
▪ Am I able to stand on God's promises to me, when things look impossible?
▪ Am I a minister of reconciliation for the world to see?
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