SCRIP-BITS

Luke 4:43.    And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
 
Oh Friends, it’s finally dawned on me that winter is here. Yes people, the little snow and the dire cold of the last few days, made even worse by strong, cold February and March like winds, finally woke me from my reverie. And what’s worse is the promise of lots of snow this weekend, comparable to what’s now gripping the city of London, some seventy odd miles down the road. They are certainly having a rough go of it. Can’t dig themselves out fast enough, before they’re inundated with more snow. Let’s pray for them Friends in their time of need. Perhaps I could do like Jesus, when they asked Him to stay in Capernaum: ‘And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.’ However, I’ll have to move to somewhere warm, with no snow and cold icy winds. (smile) Jesus though didn’t move out of the area, He went around preaching in other cities of Galilee. As Matthew describes it: ‘And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness (every sickness) and all manner of disease (every disease) among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers (various) diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils (demons), and those which were lunatic (epileptics), and those that had the palsy (were paralyzed); and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.’ (Matt.4:23-25) And according to the scholars, Jesus’ Galilean ministry was a very significant feat, since no prophet had arisen in Israel for over four hundred years. Then suddenly that silence was broken by the proclamation of the Gospel, the Good News of God’s kingdom, by John the Baptist and Jesus. The people must have felt relieved to hear something good and promising after all those years of silence. But yuh know Friends, if there’s only one thing we can learn from Jesus, let it be His strong, steadfast dedication to the job He was sent to do, as our Bit shows. He knew that he was only on earth for a short period and during that time had to get His message as far and wide as possible. That’s why he never stayed in one place for too long, especially after hearing that John the Baptist had been imprisoned. That meant He was the only one then going around preaching: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand (near): repent ye, and believe (in) the gospel.’ (Mark 1:15) We also see Jesus’ dedication to His mission after talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. When His disciples brought Him food and told Him to eat, His reply was: ‘I have meat (food) to eat that ye know not of.’ (John 4:32) This made the disciples wonder if someone else had brought Him food while they were away foraging for some. But Jesus passionately informed them: ‘My meat (food) is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’ (John 4:34) Though Jesus had to consume some physical food to stay alive as a human, He considered the sacred mission entrusted to him by His Father much more important than food for the body. The winning of souls for His Father acted like spiritual food for His own soul and took first place in His life. Oh my brethren, do we take our work for Jesus as seriously as He took His for His Father? I certainly hope so. We obviously can’t come up to Jesus’ work ethic, but we can surely strive for excellence in all matters, as he desires of His followers. Now listen as Matthew further describes the situation when Jesus went around teaching and healing in Galilee. ‘But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted (were weary), and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.’ (Matt.9:36-38) Yes Friends, Jesus was filled with compassion for the great number of lost humans, wandering forlornly like sheep without a shepherd. This brings us to the very important question: Do we have compassion on those who are sick, weary, tired and lost? Our answer ought to be an instant affirmative. If not, then we’re not following in Jesus’ footsteps. And Friends, please note, as He told the disciples that the harvest was great but only a few reapers to gather it, that very same situation, if not a worse one, also exists today. There are millions of unbelievers out there in the evil, mixed up world, who have never heard of Jesus, but sadly, only a few, a miniscule amount in comparison, to bring them to Him, to repentance and salvation. We are now those labourers Jesus spoke of my people. Our job is to go out there into the plenteous fields of the evil and ungodly and harvest them for Him. But to do that successfully we need to be strong, steadfast and serious about the job He has entrusted to us, just like He was in doing the Father’s will. And I know that some of you wondered what yesterday’s sermon (smile) had to do with the Bit. But Friends, I’m here to tell us that it had everything to do with it. For it reflected our lack of doing Jesus’ work by letting the evil minions of Lucifer demean and desecrate the Holy Birth of Jesus and the great spiritual awakening it stands for. We allowed them to minimize its significance so that now many have no idea, much less proper regard for the true value of Christmas. So don’t think it was just some rant from the Holy Spirit through me. It was taking all of us to task, for we had not fulfilled our jobs as true labourers in reaping the harvest of unbelievers. Instead, we allowed the plentiful harvest to stay and rot in the fields, making it very fertile ground for Lucifer and his evil cohorts. And I hope we are ashamed and truly repentant for our lack of diligence in harvesting the significant crop of ripe unbelievers. And now, having seen how Jesus put His hand to the plough and never looked back, I hope that we will be much more aware of our duty and perform it in a much more diligent manner. Oh Friends, if we don’t up the ante, and do much better than we’ve done, then we’ll be letting Jesus down, sadly disappointing Him. And one thing He made sure of, was not to disappoint His Father. He carried out His mission with flying colours! Let’s try to do the same with ours nuh. And I just LOVE it when we are able to close with Jesus’ words on any topic. Hear these now, and let them bring light to out hearts, souls and minds, my brethren. ‘I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ (John 9:4-5) Please remember Friends, we are now entrusted to be the light of the world, so let’s go out and be such. Till we meet again, God in favour, please walk safely with Him. Much LOVE!…let your light so shine before men…that they may see your good works…and glorify your Father which is in heaven…(Matt.5:16)