Proverbs 3:27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Well Happy Easter Monday my joyous Friends! Blessings in the name of Jesus, whose glorious resurrection we celebrated yesterday. Hope the celebrations didn’t go overboard, (smile) and we made time to fellowship with others, and offer up sufficient thanks and praise to Him who gave His innocent, sinless life as a blood sacrifice that our sins could be cleansed, thereby offering salvation, eternal life and a return to a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. Praise His Holy Name! Yesterday we concentrated on Jesus, today though, the Lord has directed we address our relationship with and treatment of our neighbours. Remember, Jesus said there were two basic commandments: LOVE the Lord, and LOVE your neighbour as yourself. Well I know that many of us don’t LOVE ourselves, thus treat our neighbours and ourselves shabbily. But that is definitely not what the Lord desires of us. As Sol rightly declares; ‘Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.’ In other words, don’t tell someone you owe, you can’t pay, when you very well can. That’s not the Christian way. Jesus said; ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.’ (Mat.22:21) Bruh Paul corroborated that by saying; ‘Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.’ (Rom.13:7) That seems clear enough; that we are to give everyone his rightful due; pay whatever we owe, if we have it. And ‘Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.’ (Prov.3:28) Oh Friends, that’s a popular action of mankind, both believers and unbelievers. Although we have what we owe, that greedy, sinful part of our human nature, makes us feel so reluctant, and hard done by to part with it. But my people this is not only greedy and selfish, but also foolish and ungodly. That type of action only leads to strife, bitterness and conflict between neighbours, especially if the person owed, knows we are lying. How often have we seen this happen eh? Too often! I’m sure if those of us who do that kind of stuff, cease and desist, life would be much less problematic. No doubt that behaviour was a contributing factor to our current predicament, and it’s possibly going to get worse now, since many of us are fearful for our jobs and livelihood, consequently cutting and scheming to keep ourselves afloat. But Friends, what we don’t seem to realize is that behaviour has a domino effect, particularly in hard, uncertain times like these. If I don’t pay my debt to you, then you can’t pay yours, and that person can’t pay theirs either, so it just keeps spiralling out of control. Besides, the Lord instructed the Israelites long ago: ‘Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.’ (Lev.19:13) Oh my people, some of us make that a habit, and it’s so wrong. And it just seems to happen to the poor and downtrodden more than the elite classes. Right now it’s a rampant occurrence, especially amongst employers who hire illegal immigrants, or those who have no avenue for complaint. It seems to be normal to promise a certain wage for a job, then overwork, and either don’t pay or short pay, and if you complain, threaten to report you to the immigration authorities. Ah Lord eh! Man’s inhumanity to man, surely makes thousands mourn yes mih people! Menial workers, like nannies, construction and regular labourers, itinerant farm workers constantly suffer this abuse. And it’s not only the haves, but also some of us have-nots, that are perpetrating this dreadful sin. But when the shoe is on the other foot though, it’s a totally different story. They clamour to high heaven, like a lot of those same greedy, unscrupulous business people are doing today in this historic economic downturn. And sadly, those in power, although aware of this untenable situation, often choose to do nothing about it, since it helps them and their business cronies to control the bulk of the working class. But they are stupid and short sighted, just like any of us who walk in their sinful footsteps, cause it’s like backing an angry, hungry dog into a corner; it has no other choice but to attack you. That’s why my people, Jesus is depending on us, His followers, to put a stop to as much of this advantage taking as possible. I know they say advantage will never finish, but we can certainly lessen it a whole lot, to everybody’s benefit. Therefore, let’s ‘Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee, (in safety with us) (Prov.3:29) Instead, ‘As we have therefore every opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:10) Wiser words were never spoken my people. Please, let’s heed them nuh. Much LOVE!…LOVE yourself…and likewise…LOVE your neighbour…
Well Happy Easter Monday my joyous Friends! Blessings in the name of Jesus, whose glorious resurrection we celebrated yesterday. Hope the celebrations didn’t go overboard, (smile) and we made time to fellowship with others, and offer up sufficient thanks and praise to Him who gave His innocent, sinless life as a blood sacrifice that our sins could be cleansed, thereby offering salvation, eternal life and a return to a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. Praise His Holy Name! Yesterday we concentrated on Jesus, today though, the Lord has directed we address our relationship with and treatment of our neighbours. Remember, Jesus said there were two basic commandments: LOVE the Lord, and LOVE your neighbour as yourself. Well I know that many of us don’t LOVE ourselves, thus treat our neighbours and ourselves shabbily. But that is definitely not what the Lord desires of us. As Sol rightly declares; ‘Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.’ In other words, don’t tell someone you owe, you can’t pay, when you very well can. That’s not the Christian way. Jesus said; ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.’ (Mat.22:21) Bruh Paul corroborated that by saying; ‘Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.’ (Rom.13:7) That seems clear enough; that we are to give everyone his rightful due; pay whatever we owe, if we have it. And ‘Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.’ (Prov.3:28) Oh Friends, that’s a popular action of mankind, both believers and unbelievers. Although we have what we owe, that greedy, sinful part of our human nature, makes us feel so reluctant, and hard done by to part with it. But my people this is not only greedy and selfish, but also foolish and ungodly. That type of action only leads to strife, bitterness and conflict between neighbours, especially if the person owed, knows we are lying. How often have we seen this happen eh? Too often! I’m sure if those of us who do that kind of stuff, cease and desist, life would be much less problematic. No doubt that behaviour was a contributing factor to our current predicament, and it’s possibly going to get worse now, since many of us are fearful for our jobs and livelihood, consequently cutting and scheming to keep ourselves afloat. But Friends, what we don’t seem to realize is that behaviour has a domino effect, particularly in hard, uncertain times like these. If I don’t pay my debt to you, then you can’t pay yours, and that person can’t pay theirs either, so it just keeps spiralling out of control. Besides, the Lord instructed the Israelites long ago: ‘Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.’ (Lev.19:13) Oh my people, some of us make that a habit, and it’s so wrong. And it just seems to happen to the poor and downtrodden more than the elite classes. Right now it’s a rampant occurrence, especially amongst employers who hire illegal immigrants, or those who have no avenue for complaint. It seems to be normal to promise a certain wage for a job, then overwork, and either don’t pay or short pay, and if you complain, threaten to report you to the immigration authorities. Ah Lord eh! Man’s inhumanity to man, surely makes thousands mourn yes mih people! Menial workers, like nannies, construction and regular labourers, itinerant farm workers constantly suffer this abuse. And it’s not only the haves, but also some of us have-nots, that are perpetrating this dreadful sin. But when the shoe is on the other foot though, it’s a totally different story. They clamour to high heaven, like a lot of those same greedy, unscrupulous business people are doing today in this historic economic downturn. And sadly, those in power, although aware of this untenable situation, often choose to do nothing about it, since it helps them and their business cronies to control the bulk of the working class. But they are stupid and short sighted, just like any of us who walk in their sinful footsteps, cause it’s like backing an angry, hungry dog into a corner; it has no other choice but to attack you. That’s why my people, Jesus is depending on us, His followers, to put a stop to as much of this advantage taking as possible. I know they say advantage will never finish, but we can certainly lessen it a whole lot, to everybody’s benefit. Therefore, let’s ‘Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee, (in safety with us) (Prov.3:29) Instead, ‘As we have therefore every opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:10) Wiser words were never spoken my people. Please, let’s heed them nuh. Much LOVE!…LOVE yourself…and likewise…LOVE your neighbour…
SCRIP-BITS 