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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The islands have seen it and fear; the ends of
the earth tremble. They approach and come forward; they help each other and say
to their companions, “Be strong!”
The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.
“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have
chosen, you descendants of Abraham My friend, I took you from the ends of the
earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I
have chosen you and have not rejected you.”
Isaiah 41:5-9
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
Hopefully,
you are familiar with this passage from the closing verses of the Gospel of
Matthew. They were some of the last words of Jesus would speak to His disciples,
words that consisted of a call to action for them and all disciples who would
follow.
Note here
than none of these calls to action are optional. If you are a believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ (better known as a Christian), then you are required to go
and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded. This is not
something that can be accomplished passively. Rather, it requires a ton of hard
work, dedication, and commitment.
The
beauty in all this is that those who answer these calls to action do not do it
by chance or coercion. No, they do so willingly because they are the chosen
servants of Jesus, all disciples are.
You’ll
recall how Jesus systematically selecting His first twelve followers who became
a part of His inner circle. None of those first twelve were any more perfect
than we are today but they were chosen and set apart to assist Jesus during the
final years of His ministry and then carry on His legacy thereafter, just as we
are called to do today. And just in case there were any feelings of inadequacy,
feelings the disciples may have had that they weren’t quite up to filling the
shoes of Jesus, He gave them a blessed assurance that still holds true today.
For indeed, He was with them and He is with us until the end of the age, the
time when He will return home for His beloved disciples.
Yes, the
first disciples were chosen and so has every disciple since then. You see
Jesus, given all authority over heaven and earth by God the Father (Matthew
28:18), chooses us, not the other way around. The scriptures affirm this truth
as we look at this passage from the Gospel of John:
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you
might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My
name the Father will give you. This is My command: Love each other. If
the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to
the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates
you.” John 15:16-18
Friends, God’s word affirms the
fact. Jesus chooses His servants and appoints them to bear fruit that will last
as we seek to bring others to grow and trust in Christ, finding their way to
eternal life. There is no better fruit we can bear in our ministry work for the
Savior. He has chosen us to serve Him and others in a world that hated Him so
much that they crucified Him, a world that even today shows on a daily basis
that it despises Christ and anyone who comes in His name. It wasn’t as if He
didn’t warn us it was coming.
Well this matter of being chosen by
the Lord is not just a New Testament fact for as we see in our scripture today
from Isaiah, Chapter 41, the Israelites were also a chosen people, chosen by
God. Look again at these verses:
The
islands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and
come forward; they help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.
“But
you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham
My friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I
called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not
rejected you.” vv. 5-9
Note here that God proclaims that
Israel and its people were chosen servants, taken by God from the ends of the
earth and called to be His servants. Like those who Jesus chose later, these
early servants of God were not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. In
fact, they utterly frustrated the Lord over and over again through their
disobedience in doing what He wanted them to do. Sometimes I wonder if we don’t
bring an equal level of frustration to Him in the way we fail to live up to what
He expects us to do.
Frankly, we cannot afford to fail
in what we were chosen to do. There is simply too much at stake, way too many lost
souls that need to hear the good news of salvation God offers through His Son,
the Savior of the world, Jesus. All those who believe in Christ (aka
Christians) have been chosen and ordered to make His will and way theirs, and
that will and way is centered on a devoted life of sacrifice to ensure that
others know who Jesus and how they have been chosen to follow and serve Him.
That’s really what this message is
saying to us today. We are servants chosen by Jesus to go into the world and
grow our number, to increase the number of chosen servants to join us in the
harvest field.
For the lament of Jesus some 2,000
years ago still holds true today:
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
Matthew 9:37
It’s time to get to work.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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